18 STOCK-POISONING PLANTS OF MONTANA. 



thorough inspection of the g'eneral range conditions in those parts of 

 the State which are best adapted to stock raising. In general, the 

 most thorough study was made of ranges where serious losses of stock 

 had occurred during the season of 1900 or previous seasons, especially 

 where the stockmen manifested a lively interest in the investigation 

 and requested a visit to their ranges. Numerous requests were 

 received by letter or telegram to make such visits, and all such requests 

 were heeded if time permitted, for the reason that it was considered 

 highly desirable to see as many cases as possible under natural condi- 

 tions and thus to be able to note the s^'mptoms of poisoning and the 

 special circumstances of each case. The stockmen took such interest 

 in making prompt notifications of cases of poisoning that many 

 exceptional opportunities were had for observing cattle, horses, and 

 sheep poisoned bv different plants. In some cases it was impossible 

 to reach the locality in time to observe the early symptoms, but in a 

 majority of the cases which are recorded in this report the symptoms 

 and circumstances of poisoning were studied in the field at first hand. 



GENERAL RANGE CONDITIONS. 

 SUM3IEK AND WINTER RANGES FOR SHEEP. 



The majority of sheep raisers in the kState are so situated that a part of 

 their range is of the nature of treeless prairie while another part lies 

 on the foothills or lower slopes of the mountains. Frequently the 

 (lifi'erent tracts of range belonging to a single sheep raiser are not 

 contiguous and it is therefore necessary to drive the sheep for short 

 distances in order to move them from one range to another. The pre- 

 vailing practice of sheep men is so to manage the grazing of the sheep 

 upon the range that the sheep will be able to find the best possible pas- 

 ture during the greater part of the year. In the early days of stock 

 raising in the State the sheep men did not, as a rule, provide forage 

 in the form of hay for the inclement weather of winter, but were 

 apparently willing to take chances with their sheep under such climatic 

 conditions as might develop. It was evidently of prime importance 

 in this sj^stem of management that a portion of the range be reserved 

 in good condition for winter grazing. 



During recent 3'ears the sheep men of the State have realized more 

 and more fully the importance of cutting large quantities of hay for 

 feeding during the time when the ground ma}' be covered with 

 snow. The same custom still prevails, however, of dividing the range 

 into a summer and winter range. As a general rule the ewe bands are 

 held near the home ranch during the lambing season and until after 

 shearing, when all the sheep are taken to the foothills or mountain 

 ranges. It may be said, therefore, that sheep are held on the open 

 prairie ranges during the winter and spring, while the mountain ranges 



