CHAPTER XIII. 

 POISONOUS PLANTS. 



The losses to the stockmen using the western ranges 

 through poisonous and injurious plants amount to an im- 

 mense sum each year. Some of the losses are unavoid- 

 able, some can be minimized, and others may be almost 

 entirely done away with. 



These losses are due to two causes, the first may be 

 called mechanical, and is not due to the poison in the 

 plant but to the effect upon the animal through other 

 means. Under this head come bloat, death from corn 

 smut, also from foxtail (Hordeum), Porcupine grass 

 (Stipa), and needle grass (Aristida), whose sharp- 

 pointed awns work their way into the lining of the 

 mouth, lips, eyes and nostrils, causing festering sores, 

 frequently becoming so bad as to cause the death of the 

 animal through starvation. In corn smut the dry spores 

 expand through the action of the liquid in the stomach 

 and obstruct its operation. 



The second cause is the poison contained in the 

 various plants. In considering this subject it is gener- 

 ally assumed by the average stockman that most an- 

 imals have a keen sense of danger in seeking their feed, 

 and can almost unerringly select the harmless plants 

 from the injurious ones. 



To a certain extent this may be true. If the animals 

 are surrounded with plenty of feed from which to 



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