Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1903-11-04
LOCO WEED IS
NOT A POISON
Doctors Chestnut and Marshall, OF
State Agricultural College, Make
important Discovery.
SHEEP THRIVE ON THE PLANT
Flockmssters Do Not Generally Ae
cept the Assurance of the Ex.
p~erimenters.

1t may be that the much maligned
loco weed Is. after all. not respon,
sible for the mortality among the
flocks of Montana, Notwithstanding
popular belief to the contrary; that is,
il account is to be taken of the re.
suits of the Investigations and exper.
iments made by a couple of scientific
gentlemen connected with the stan
of the experiment station maintain
ed by the government in connection
with the state agricultural college al
Bozeman. Doctors Chestnut and Mar
shall are the men who have made
this discovery.
AS published in the Tribune some
weeks ago, the two doctors went to
Big Timber. on the invitation OF
Briggs & Ellis. large Gockmasters OF
Sweet Grass county, who offered to
place both the material and necessary
room at their disposal to conduct such
experiments as they might see fit with
a view to ~ascertaining the actual eff
fects of loco weed upon sheep. AT.
ter making a number of initial eXper
iments on the ranch the doctors trans
ferred their field of operations to the
vicinity of ~Springdale. Several sheer
which they were told manifested sym
ptoms of loco poisoning in an advan
ced stage were given to them. These
they killed and ~dissected. The result:
were as astonishing as they were un
looked for.
A number of different varieties Of
worms were discovered in the car
casses, some in the bowels and Others
in the stomachs. again others in the
lung cavities. Those found in the
bowels were tape worms, while those
in the stomach were of the kind com
mon to that organ. In addition to the
three places mentioned other worms
were found in the nostrils and nasa
passages. The worms in the mites
tines we're of %cork-screw like forma
ton. Not in all the carcasses dis
sected were the nasal worms found
being discovered only in animal:
which had coughed and given otheI
manifestations of catarrhal affection
BY sheepmen it has always beer
noticed that animals supposed to bt
suffering from the effects of loco poi
soning give signs of nasal affection
This has been accepted as reasonably
positive proof of the presence of the
poison in the animals and is non o.
the symptoms relied upon for a cor
rect diagnosis.
Having concluded their examina
ton of animals supposedly poisoned
by the weed, the doctors next gav'
their attention to a series of expert
ments intended to afford positive
proof OF the effects of loco when eat
en- in large quantities. For this pur
pose they selected a number of sheer
in perfect health and fed them liber
ally on the weed. This was contin
ued for several days, with results en-
tirely different than those looked for
Instead of showing signs of poisoning
or sickness of any sort, the sheer
gave unmistakable evidence of hav
ing gained in flesh, without any indi
cations of evil effects from the sup
posedly dangerous diet.
WHllt the tAptliultHttis dit odtio
fed that they have solved the cause
of the trouble, some of the tiockmas
tiers still adhere to their belief tina
loco is responsible for the losses oc
casionally sustained among thu
flocks and declare the weed to be poi
sonous. They prefer to accept wha'
they regard as the evidence of years
and their experience with both sheer
and cattle has taught them. In spite
of what the doctors may say, they In
sist that it is the part OF wisdom Il
keep their animals away from the
weed as much as possible. They rea
son that effect is produced by th'
cause. holding loco responsible fol
the latter, claiming that when thu
system becomes inculcated with thu
poison it becomes the breeding place
for the worms discovered by the doc
tors. In other words. their reasoning
is. no loco. no worms. Hence the,
are not yet prepared to accept tn
discovery of the doctors as OF an!
particular importance.-Great Fall;
Tribune.