The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-02-28
THEHASKINLETTER
FIGHTING POISONOUS PLANTS
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

WASHINGTON. Feb. a7.--Few peo-
pie realize how many plants with in
nocent looking blossoms hold, at their
roots or in their leaves a deadly poison.
The department of agriculture esti
mates at rough guess that there are
at least $500 poisonous plants in the
United States, and more are added to
the list every year.
| The delicate white petals of the lily
Of the valley are far from safe for
! the romantic young maiden to pluck
| off and abstractedly chew as she medi-
tates upon the sender, for If she does
this she will need doctor in a short
| time The heayy-scented oleander Is
another extremely dangerous plant to
introduce into your mouth while the
breath of the scarlet tulip or the poppy,
If inhaled too long, and too deeply, will
overcome, and may even cause death,
A number of other cultivated plants,
like these, are all right so long as you
do not try TO use them for food, or
drink in too soulful and intoxicating
| drafts of their perfume. But the
poisonous cultivated plants are few,
compared with the weeds and wild flow
ers that regularly take heavy toll of
stock and some human lives.
The department of agriculture states
that children who play in the woods
and fields should be warned against
eating unfamiliar roots and berries. Dr.
! c. d. Marsh, of the department, an
authority on poison plants, says that
the most poisonous plant in the United
States is the water hemlock, also called
childbane Every season number Of
children are poisoned, and usually some
die from eating the roots of the water
hemlock. The root of this plant is 50
toxic that even a small part Of a root
may cause death il it is not quickly
removed from the system.
DR.. Marsh has in his office valuable
! old book on the subject of water hem
lock, printed abroad in 1879. we sent
to England to get it, he explained the
other day, "it Is very rare, there be
ing only one other copy in the United
! States.
when it comes to cattle and horses -
said DR. Marsh, thousands die of
poisoning Poison weeds are the bane
Of every stockman, and drive many a
! live stock farmer out of business bank
rupt
I'm the mountains and on the plains
Of the Western states, cattle, sheep
and horses are often allowed to range
on unfenced lands, or are trailed over
long distances. Half a million sheep
may be trailed over the same route in
a short time. The first who come
clean up what is good, Then the others
come along and eat poisonous weeds
because there is not enough whole s.
As high AS so per cent of flock Of
sheep has been lost in individual cases,
Mr.. Marsh states, as a result of poison
Gus weeds.
Chief among the stock killers studied
by the department of agriculture are
certain varieties OF loco weed. Long
before science became interested in this
baleful plant the cowboys believed that
II was the cause of mysterious deaths
and queer behavior of horses and cat
tie, They go plum loco on 1t, said
the cattle men, loco being Spanish for
crazy, and popular slang WORD in
the southwest So the plant came tc
be called loco.
The department of agriculture stud
led this plant for over four years, and
scientists became very much interested
in the question of whether or not IL
was really poisonous, one earnest in
vestigator made an extract from the
weed and tried 1t out on himself by
taking doses every day At the end
Of a few weeks his friends pronounced
him as sane as usual, so that he decided
that human beings were not susceptible
Animals continued to die or go crazy
however, and the final proclamation
was that loco weed is certainly pois-
onous plant where animals are con-
cerned.
The scientists single test of the ef-