16 STO^K-POISONING PLANTS OF MONTANA. 



Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and California, each held over '1^o,()00.()00 

 worth of sheep. The total value of the.se .sheep throughout the 

 United States on Januar}^ 1, 1900, was estimated to be $122,665,913. 

 At as recent a date as 1870 there were, according to the third annual 

 report of the board of sheep commissioners of Montana, for 1899, but 

 4,212 sheep in the State. In 1880 there were 249,978. In 1890 the 

 number had increased to 1,555,116, and now it is about 4,000,000. 



OCCASION AND AIDS OF THE PRESENT INVESTIGATION. 



Notwithstanding the great advantages of which the stock-raising 

 industry of the State can boast, it has to contend with a few drawbacks. 

 Two of these come within the domain of botany and agriculture. 

 They arc, first, the existence on the feeding grounds of great quanti- 

 ties of certain poisonous plants which, as the table given on page 84 

 will show, are sometimes eaten extensively with fatal effect; and, 

 second, the difficulty of producing sufficient hay to keep the animals 

 in good condition over winter. The latter difficult}^ has recentl}' been 

 considered by Prof. Robert S. Shaw in Bulletin ^1 of the Montana 

 experiment station. The former has already been considered to a 

 certain extent by one of us, Dr. E. V. Wilcox, in Bulletins 15 and 22 

 of the same station. 



Much attention has also been and is still being given to the subject; 

 especially from the chemical standpoint, by Dr. F. W. Traphagen, 

 chemist of the Montana station, and by his assistants; and from the 

 veterinary standpoint by Dr. M. E. Knowles, of Helena, the State 

 veterinarian, and his associates. 



This report gives the results of a short preliminary investigation 

 which was inaugurated at the urgent solicitation of the State board of 

 sheep commissioners of Montana and warmly seconded by the State 

 experiment station as well as by individual stockmen throughout the 

 State. It is a pleasure for us to refer with thankful appreciation to 

 the hearty cooperation which was given us by the various members of 

 the station staff, including especialh^ Director S. M. Emery, Prof. 

 F. W. Traphagen, Prof. J. W. Blankinship, Prof. Robert S. Shaw, and 

 Prof. W. M. Cobleigh. To the last we are indebted for all but two or 

 three of the photographs reproduced in this report. Professor Trap- 

 hagen and Professor Blankinship not onh" gave us the free use of their 

 li]:>raries and laboratories, but also furnished us with material and their 

 personal assistance as well as many valuable suggestions. To Dr. P. A. 

 Rydberg, of the New York Botanical. Garden, we are indebted for the 

 final identification of the plants noted in the report. 



It is especially pleasing to refer to the generous assistance which was 

 received from the stockmen. Hon. T. C. Power took every occasion 

 to notify them of our presence in the State and to request reports from 

 them concerning any case of possible poisoning. Many letters of 



