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Show Farmers Warned Against Weed Stockmen should learn to recognize recog-nize and avoid the whorled milkweed, is the advice sent out by the agricultural agri-cultural department at Washington. The whorled milkweed is a plant very poisonous to cattle, horses and sheep. It grows abundantly in certain sec-lions sec-lions of southwestern Colorado, southern Utah, and the northern counties of Arizona and New Mexico, according to the United Slates department de-partment of agriculture, which has made an invest igal ion of (he eri'ects of this plant, on stock. Herds should not be given the opportunity to eat. any considerable quantity of thin plant. The whorled milkweed is a. foothill plant, not being found above an altitude alti-tude of 7,500 feet, and sometimes grows with great luxuriance about ditches and in abandoned fields. As small a quantity as two and one-half ounces of the green plant will kill a sheep, and two and mm half pounds may kill a 2-year-old steer. Horses arc not likely (o eat It, lint if they do I hey are as easily poisone.l as sheep. Frequent cases of poisoning occur when anials are confined to areas where the plan! grows, and have lillle else to eal, and under such ilreuin-slanccs ilreuin-slanccs heavy losses result. Many an- mals also bave been killed by eating eat-ing hay containing Hie plant dried. Xo antidote for the poison lias been found. The v. boi led milkweed is exceedingly exceed-ingly dillicnH to eradicate, but by cut ting i! down before Hie beads a re 'oriucd much can lie n coin pi b, bed in .laslures and along (rails. Ordinarily il slamls from one to Ihreo feet in h, i j-li 1 . I'i n ons inlcrcf I ed in securing Information In-formation regarding this menace In live stock should write I lie I'nileil Kiale.s depart men! of agriculture, Washington. Ii. (. fur a depa rt men t bulletin entitled, "The Whorled Milkweed." |