OCR Text |
Show OAK BRUSH BAD FOR CATTLE Twenty-four cattle out of a total Dunch of four hundred were lost by a community of permittees on the Wasatch Was-atch forest last year, due, it is believed, to the eating of oak brush. It is known that the leaves, as well as bark of oak brush, are rich in tannic acid, the stringent string-ent properties of which are well known and utilized in the tanning of leather. It also seems to operate injuriously on the alimentary system of animals. It has not been definitely determined whether it really acts as a poison or is merely conducive to constipation. This will be more fully investigated by Dr. C. D. Marsh, of the Bureau of Plant Industry, in cooperation with forest officers. The subject is important because oak brush constitutes a large proportion, as high as 10 to 25 per cent in some cases, of the forage on some Utah forests. I Losses probably from oak brush have j been reported from time to time though I not of so large a proportion as on the I Wasatch. In the spring the tender J leaves and shoots of o ik brush are eaten i in larger quantities than later in the , season unless other feed disappears or I becomes dry. When eaten together : with succulent grasses and weeds there j is usually no trouble and it is found al-; al-; so that regular salting or provision of ' continuous supply of salt is highly bene- ficial. On the Manti forest in particu- lar, grazing p nniitees place large tubs of salt on the cattle ranges, fastening the tub securely to the ground with stakes. This is filled with fine, crystal-ized crystal-ized salt, such as is used in freezing ice cream, and a st 'rase supply is cached nearby th.t the forest ranger may replenish re-plenish the tub when needed. Tubs are necessary in order that the frequent rains may not wash away the salt and that it be not pawed into the ground On hun mountain ridges, however, which form the natural ranges for the horses, it is not practicable to place salt in this way since the horses destroy the tubs by paw ng. While a liber.il supply of fine salt is recommended for cattle accustomed to regular saltintr, care must be exercised that it is not reached by stock which i are excessively salt hungry. By such, fine salt is sometimes greedily devoured in quantities sufficient to produce death. |