THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



STUDYING POISONOUS PLANTS 



The students of the Veterinary Science 

 Course of the Colorado Agricultural 

 College, accompanied by Dr. Geo. H. 

 Glover, head of the Department; Dr. I. 

 E. Newsom, associate professor , and 

 Prof. B. O. Longyear, associate profes- 

 sor of Botany and Forestry, visited Rist 

 Canon, ten miles west of Fort Collins, 

 recently for the purpose of studying 

 poisonous plants on the range. An im- 

 portant part of the work of the Veter- 

 inarian, especially in the arid regions of 

 the West, is poisonous plants and their 

 effects upon domestic animals. The fore- 

 most veterinarian of the future must 

 possess a wide knowledge of his chosen 

 profession. He must not only know the 

 nature of the active principles of plants 

 which are used as remedies in the prac- 

 tice of medicine, but he must also be 

 thoroughly posted on the active poisons 

 in plants which are dangerous to life, 

 and which are of great economic impor- 

 tance to stock men and farmers every- 

 where. 



In the vegtable kingdom all the way 

 from large trees down to bacteria, we 

 have plants possessing various toxic 

 principles. Every year there is a heavy 

 loss of animals from having eaten of 

 musty or moldy food, poisonous fungi, 

 and of certain shrubs and fruit of cer- 

 tain trees. 



The loss of animals on account of poi- 

 sonous herbage every year no doubt far 

 exceeds one hundred thousand dollars in 

 this state alone. This loss could no doubt 

 be greatly lessened if there were a better 

 knowledge of these dangerous plants. 

 The several species of loco weeds take 

 first rank in the damage done, next, the 

 several species of larkspur. These two 

 probably cause more than 90 per cent of 

 the total mortality of animals under 

 range conditions. 



The wild parsnip, lupine, camas, 

 monk's blood, kafircorn, sorghum, wild 

 cherry leaves, horse tail, molds, and many 

 more come in for their share of the re- 

 maining 10 per cent of loss. The study 

 of poisonous plants is a difficult matter. 

 Plants that are poisonous at one time are 

 not so at other times. Some are poison- 

 ous only at certain stages of growth, 

 some are poisonous in one part of the 

 plant and not in another. There is cer- 

 tainly a great opportunity for scientific 

 research in the realm of toxic herbage. 

 The scientific verterinarian should be a 

 leader in this work. 



IRRIGATION OF POTATOES. 



BY W. PADDOCK. 

 State Agricultural College, Colorado. 



The details of irrigation, manner of 

 laying out the rows, etc., do not need 

 to be described. But there are a few 

 simple points which are essential to suc- 

 cess. First, do not irrigate potatoes up 

 if it can possibly be avoided. Wetting 

 the land at this time is very likely to 

 bring on attacks of disease which will 

 result in a poor stand and serious in- 

 jury to the plants throughout the grow- 

 ing season. 



Ordinarily the first irrigation should 

 not be given until the tubers are set. 

 If the tubers have a chance to form in a 

 comparatively dry soil, the majority of 



them will be formed at one time ; then 

 when water is applied all will have an 

 equal chance to develop ; the result 

 should be a crop of even sized potatoes. 



The water should always run shallow 

 in the furrows, never deep enough to 

 stand around the tubers, but a sufficient 

 amount applied so that the moisture may 

 seep up into the ridges. In this way the 

 soil about the growing tubers may be 

 kept damp but not soggy. This is the 

 ideal condition for the potato plant, but 

 unfavorable for the growth of potato 

 diseases. 



An effort should be made to keep the 

 soil moisture uniform by frequent light 

 irrigations. If the ground is allowed to 

 become dry, the growth of the tubers is 

 checked ; then when water is again ap- 

 plied, second growth starts in, which re- 

 sults in nobs and irregular growths. The 

 tubers of some varieties crack badly un- 

 der this treatment. 



: * -i'li'ipl iv t the notatoes should 

 mature in comparatively dry soil. If the 



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soil is kept wet until harvest time, the 

 tubers contain an excess of moisture 

 and this necessarily results in poor qual- 

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 soil is wet present a poor appearance on 

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