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Show LARKSPUR POISONING III TOE NATIONAL FOREST Government Making an Effort to Dls-i Dls-i cover Antidote, and Thus Save Cattlemen Heavy Losses. Tho losses to tho cattlemen In tho western stntes from larkspur poisoning pois-oning overy year Iravo been so serious seri-ous that the government Is making i a vigorous effort to find nn antidote for tho poison, ns woll as to eradl- (ate tho plant Itself. lu tho Ouniilson nntlonnl forest, Colorado, tho losses to tho stockmen j Inst season from larkspur wero con-t-urvntlvely estimated to uqunl almost 5 per cent of tho total number of cnttlo grazed upon that forest. Its effects aro almost Immediate. Death follows the eating or tho plant within u few hours. For this reason remedies are ot little avail, because the animals aro generally dead be lore they aro discovered. IC speiis from tho bureau of plant Industry, lu conpcintlun with the for est service, hno made careful and painstaking Investigations lu the J'eld, with ii view or lessening the losses ns fur ns possible, whllo sev i-ial different plans have been tried In hopes or completely destrojlng tho plant. i Larkspur gmws very luxuriantly in tho curly spring. On tho (iunnlson forest In June, 1000. tho forest officers of-ficers counted more llutii 1,1100 plants In blossom upon u single square rod. Tho plant seems to he moro poison oub In hot, damp weather than in dry oensons, mid it hiiH been observed that when tho ground Is hard and dry, so that In eating It the stents break off, leaving the roots lu the ground, It Is not so deadly lu its ef-lects. ef-lects. Since certnln ureas are well known to bo badly Infested with larkspur the stockmen have heeu In tho habit of herding their cattle from sucl places. As far as possible, these ureas will bo fenced by tho forest bervlce. On other ureas where It ll not bo plentiful the plants will he dug out by tho torest rangers, nnd also mowed off to prevent seeding again. It has nlso been found that the plnnt will not hold Its own ngnlnst cortnln hinds of grasses, such ns '!m othy. A fow ncres, sowed In timothy nro being cnrerully wntched nnd It If bellovcd thnt It Is crowding tho lark spur out. It seems probable, that by sowing timothy on tiro mountuln meadows tho larkspur could ho gradually grad-ually smothered nnd replaced by n valuable forago plant. If this 'plan is supported by good evidence tills season, timothy! will- be extensively sowed Inter on. Mean-whllo Mean-whllo upon this, ns well ns several other nntlonnl forests where tho losses from this plant nro very scrl-cits, scrl-cits, tho building of fences to keep tho cattle off the most dangerous nrcas Ib being pushed by tho forest scrvlco, and will bo continued ns fnst ns funds nro available for tho purpose. pur-pose. Mr. J. C. Thomas of Crawrord, Col orado. made an experiment In feed Ing the Inrkspur some yenrs ago to determine. If possible. Just whnt pnrt or tho plant contained tho poisonous properties. A yearling steer was fed a largo quantity or tho leaves, with tio Injurious resultH. A few days later, the same nnlmnl wns red n quantity or tho roots, nnd within ten lmiirs It wns dead, thus Justifying the suspicion thnt tho poisonous mnttei was contained In tho root. |
