60 BULLETII^ 365^ U. S. DEPAETMEjSTT OF AGEICULTURE. 



any poisonous effect upon sheep. Not only were no poisonous effects 

 produced b}^ close feeding upon the plant but the animals did not 

 lose weight and seemed to thrive upon larkspur as a fodder. In- 

 quiry among the stockmen of the Gunnison and neighboring stock 

 ranges brought out the fact that there is a general belief among 

 them that larkspur is never poisonous to sheep. Sheep have been 

 grazed upon the range not many miles from the Mount Carbon 

 station for many years and there are.no records of losses from lark- 

 spur poisoning. Inasmuch as the feeding of Delphinium ander- 

 sonii and Delphinium' l)icolor was also without result it seems prob- 

 able that all species of larkspur are harmless so far as sheep are 

 concerned. These results are in harmony with those reached by 

 S. B. Nelson, in Washington, but apparently distinctly contradict 

 the work of Wilcox, in Montana (1897). 



A careful examination of Wilcox's original paper shows that the 

 evidence in regard to larkspur poisoning in Mont|ina is hardly con- 

 clusive. He finds that a certain number of sheep died and that these 

 animals had been eating larkspur, but it does not follow, of course, 

 that larkspur was the cause of the fatal results, and, with the ex- 

 ception of giving extracts to three lambs, no experimental evidence 

 of larkspur poisoning is adduced. It may be considered possible 

 that the symptoms noted from the extracts might be explained in other 

 ways. It should be noted, however, that the detailed symptoms of 

 larkspur poisoning of sheep, as given by Dr. Wilcox, correspond 

 very closely with the symptoms as given by other authors and with 

 those noted at the Mount Carbon station. 



A visit was made to the locality in Montana where this sheep 

 poisoning had taken place, and conversation with the owners of the 

 sheep showed that not only were they very skeptical in regard to 

 the alleged fact that larkspur is the cause of the death of the sheei?, 

 as described by Dr. Wilcox, but also that they and other sheepmen 

 of the neighborhood did not consider the larkspurs poisonous to 

 sheep. The results of the work at Mount Carbon and at Greycliff 

 seem to indicate that, in all probability, larkspurs need not be feared 

 by sheep owners. In California and Oregon there is among the 

 sheepmen a belief, widespread and persistently adhered to, that 

 many sheep are lost in the spring from eating larkspur roots. This 

 belief applies, apparently, to DelpJiiniwrb andersonii. This species 

 has a stout stem and grows in a loose soil, so that grazing animals 

 can pull up the roots. It seemed possible that sheep might be 

 poisoned in this way in California and Oregon, even if they were 

 not harmed in Colorado. The experimental feeding of the roots of 

 Delphinium andersonii (p. 58), taken with the other results of 

 feeding sheep, makes it probable that the sheepmen are mistaken in 



