CONTROL AND PREVENTION OF LOSSES 259 



body, to prevent choking from the gas pressure, and it should 

 be allowed to lie undisturbed. If the case of poisoning is not 

 severe, this treatment alone is usually sufficient. The all-too- 

 common practice of bleeding has no merit whatever. If an 

 animal is poisoned by larkspur on the range, it is usually dead 

 when found, as a quantity large enough to be fatal acts very 

 quickly. 



Control and Prevention of Losses. — Most of the losses of 

 cattle from larkspur poisoning occur in regions where the plant 

 grows in small, dense patches, frequently in gulches into which 

 the animals stray and graze until they have eaten enough to 

 cause poisoning. The best way to eradicate larkspur when it 

 grows in patches is by grubbing.^ The highest labor cost of the 

 operation, on the most difficult areas, is never more than $12 to 

 $15 per acre, and the usual cost is not over $4 to $8. The cost 

 will depend on the rates paid for labor, the cost of transporting 

 laborers' tools and other necessary equipment, the abundance 

 and distribution of the plants, the nature of the soil, and the 

 kind of vegetation growing with the larkspur. The expense 

 per acre is sure to be considerably less than the value of a ma- 

 ture animal. In the grubbing operation the main and side roots 

 of the plant must be cut off at least 6 inches below the ground. 

 The best tool for grubbing is known as the " hazel " hoe (Fig. 

 87). Any blacksmith who will follow the specifications given 

 in the figure can manufacture this simple device at low expense. 



Another effective method of eradicating tall larkspur is by 

 cutting. Extensive studies conducted by the writer in the 

 Wasatch Mountains of central Utah have demonstrated clearly 

 that the densest patches can be killed in three years, and that 

 only four cuttings are required. Two cuttings were made the 

 first year, when the plants attained an average height of about 

 6 inches, and one cutting was made in each of the two following 

 years. In the first year the initial cutting was made about 

 July 10 and in the second about August 20. In the two fol- 



1 Aldous, A. E., "Eradicating Tall Larkspur on Cattle Ranges in the National 

 Forests." U. S. Dept. of Agr. Farmers Bui. 826, 1917. 



