xxiv INTRODUCTION GRAZING DISTRICTS. 



are probably not suspected without some reason. Several shrubs and trees 

 were shown to ine that are said to have poisoned or caused injury to cattle 

 when they have fed too ravenously upon them, more particularly in very 

 adverse seasons when the pastures become dry and the grasses are hard and 

 wiry. In such seasons many of the native shrubs, by their green appearance, 

 have offered a tempting bait to stock, and when cattle have eaten too freely 

 of certain of them, it may have had some injurious effect upon their systems, 

 and the more weakly beasts may have died, not from actual poisoning, but 

 from the mechanical effects this kind of herbage may have had upon their 

 systems. Should severe irritation take place in the alimentary canal, it 

 would most likely tend to bring on inflammation of the intestines, which in 

 some instances might develop into dangerous gangrene. However this may 

 be, it must be said that there is much diversity of opinion regarding certain 

 shrubs, and although I give a list, with common descriptions of a few of 

 the plants that were shown to me as being suspected of poisoning or causing 

 injury to cattle, it must be left for future careful investigation before 

 anything very definite can be stated. 



Croton verreauxii, Baill. This is a tall shrub or small tree with some- 

 what variable leaves of a rather yellowish green colour and from 2 to 4 or 

 more inches long. The fruit is a three-celled nearly globular capsule, usually 

 containing one seed in each cell. This shrub and also other Euphorbiaceous 

 plants have on several occasions been sent to me for identification as being 

 the cause of red water in cattle. There is, perhaps, no disease in cattle in 

 the South Coast which has caused so much controversy amongst dairymen as 

 red water, and probably no disease upon which there exists such a diversity 

 of opinion. Some persons scout the idea of plants being the cause and 

 attribute the disease to the water the cattle drink, whilst others argue the 

 very opposite. When the disease has assumed an acute form, a change of 

 pasture, with a liberal supply of green succulent herbage, has sometimes had 

 a beneficial effect. Indeed, this appears to be the best remedy yet adopted. 

 The croton is common in some places, more particularly on the banks of 

 streams. 



Goodia lotifolia, Salis. This is a rather tall, straggling shrub, with 

 pinnately three-foliate leaves, and many-flowered racemes of yellow flowers. 

 The pods are nearly an inch long and about a quarter of an inch broad. It 

 is commonly known as "yellow pea" or "yellow indigo." It is not very 

 common, but what there is of it is generally found on hillsides. 



' Indigofera australis, Willd. This is an erect branching shrub of from 

 two to four or more feet high, with leaves composed of numerous small 

 leaflets and pink or purple flowers arranged on axiliary racemes. The pods 

 are about 11 inches long, terete, and nearly straight. This plant is called 

 " wild indigo," and is suspected of causing red water in cattle, and also of 

 bringing on premature labour. In some places it is fairly plentiful on both 

 high and low lands. 



Omalanthus populifolius, Grdh. This is a tall shrub or small tree, with 

 large poplar-like leaves which often turn beautifully red when they become 

 old. The young shoots, too, have a reddish tint, which gives quite a character 

 to the plant. This shrub is commonly known as " poison poplar " or " poison 

 bush." It is very common in some places, but principally where little 

 clearing has been done. 



Trema aspera, Blume. This is a tall shrub or slender tree, attaining 

 sometimes a height of 20 feet or more. It is commonly known as the "peach- 

 leaved poison bush " and is plentiful in some places both on high and low 



