The Rich Hill tribune. (Rich Hill, Mo.) 1903-1911, 1906-10-04
STUDY LOCO WEED.
DEPARTMENT or AGRICULTURE
BoTANisTs AT WORK.
Immense Losses Sustained BY West
ern Rangers Has Induced the Gov.
eminent to Investigate This
Peculiar Plant.


Department Of agriculture botan'
lists are making a study Of the loco.
weed to ascertain which particular
element in IL Is injurious 70 cattle
The experiments are being made as a
result Of the losses sustained by west.
ern rangers through the peculiar dis.
Ease produced by the plant on their
| cattle Whole herds Of sheep are
known to have become locoed by eat
ms the weed and the resultant loss
10 the raisers has been extremely
/ heavy.
The experiments are unusual and
interesting. A large supply Of the
different species Of the plant has been
sent to the department from the states
In which Il is found. principally Mon
tana, and Is undergoing a chemical
analysis I'm the laboratories Of the bo-
tanical division. One form Of the ex.
periments Is the tests made on live
animals. The poison Is extracted from
the weed and fed to a rabbit, The ef-
feet Is similar 20 that OF intOxicants
on human beings. For the next sew
eral hours the rabbit finds itself on
a glorious spree and its antics are like
those Of a drunken man. Unable 10
keep its balance. and seeing double,
the rabbit finally ~cOllapses complete
ly and falls into a stupor. from which
it awakes. maybe, with an awful head
ache.
50 amusing have the antics Of some
Of the animals been that photographs
have been taken Of them while they
were under the influence Of the slim
ulant. One Of these pictures shows
a locOed rabbit which had been per
miJted 10 go on a particularly siren
nous jag. The snap shot shows him
lying on his back with his feet stuck
Up in the air. On his face is a fool
ish grin. His half-closed eyes are
bleared. His fur is rufied and muss-
cd. His mouth is half open. giving
him the appearance Of an inebriated
man who Is trying to tell a story, but
can't make q seem 10 have any sense,
Altogether the phographs give tho I'm.
preston OF overindulgence Ia spirits
In addition to these tests the de-
partment Is making experiments az
stations In various parts OF the west.
In fact. the latter experiments have
been Ia progress for several years and
the innovation Hes ia the introduc.
ton OF the work ia the local labra-
tories. The experiments carried on
mere are. however. entirely different
from those made In the west The
latter consist mainly OF observations
made on various ranches OF the effect
% the weed on animals.
The loco disease has been gencr-
ally known for many years. but Ia
spite OF -uuceasing investigation It's
cause has never been exactly disclos.
ed. Even now there Is some skepu.
cism as 20 whether Il Is attributable
to the ~so-Called loco weed or 20 some
other source. A number OF raisers
believe the disease may be produced
In sheep BY their eating large guam
titles of the alkall soil. On the other
hand. many OF the cattlemen hold that
sheep are less apt ~ become locoed
when regularly salicd than when they
eat large quantities of aikall. while
the large majority are q the opinion
that there is no connection between
loco and alkali
Experts In botany believe that the
most reliable observations OF the dis
ease Indicate that &c Is the result OF
the animals consuming certain weeds.
The disease assume either an active
or chronic form. In the active form
the animal lives only a few days.
while In the chronic form it may live
for two or three years and manifest
the same symptoms In a mlider dc.
gree.
II has been found that horses and
sheep are the animals which are most
frequently affected by the disease
Cattle occasionally acquire the habit.
but the cases are comparatively rare
In certain parts OF Montana the habit
became so widespread some time ago
among horses that the raising OF
them was abandoned until he locoed
animals were disposed OF and other
horses which hadn't acquired the hab
70 were imported.