LARKSPUR POISONING OF LIVE STOCK. 83 



when the grasses are less conspicuous. Just so far as the larkspur 

 is more evident than other forms of forage plants, it is sure to be 

 eaten in larger quantities and will produce correspondingly greater 

 harm. 



The tall larkspur is especially dangerous in Colorado during the 

 months of May and June. After it springs up in the early part of 

 the season it grows in large tufts of rather attractive appearance 

 and extends above the forage plants. It is at this time that it is most 

 likely to be eaten by cattle. In narrow valleys where the larkspur is 

 quite abundant, if cattle collect in the early part of the season to 

 graze, they are almost certain to take a considerable quantity of the 

 larkspur with more or less losses resulting. It is entirely feasible 

 in many of these small canyons to clear out the major part of the 

 larkspur and thus prevent poisoning, and it is definitely recom- 

 mended that in such restricted areas the plant be dug, out. 



Experimental work carried out upon the range has shown that 

 the larkspur can be killed by cutting the root 2 or 3 inches below 

 the surface of the ground, and this has been done by the Forest Service 

 in some localities on a somewhat large scale. Complete eradication 

 of the plant, however, is impossible, and in many places it is eco- 

 nomically unprofitable to dig it out. In some valleys it is so' scat- 

 tered among the willows that it is difficult to approach it, and on 

 some ranges it is distributed so widely and in places so difficult of 

 access that the expenditure of labor necessary to destroy the plant 

 would exceed the value of the range. The practicability of digging 

 out larkspur on any range depends upon the characteristics of that 

 particular range, and can not be decided without a careful examina- 

 tion of local conditions. 



It was found, while investigating the conditions of larkspur poi- 

 soning in the Sierras, that in many especially harmful regions the 

 heavy growth of larkspur is confined to particular valleys, or, in 

 some cases, to a very limited area in a valley. Some of these val- 

 leys can be easily fenced off and used for horses rather than for cat- 

 tle, and the small isolated areas can be cleared of most of the larkspur 

 at a small expenditure of time and money. 



When cattle are driven hurriedly from one range to another they 

 are much more apt to become poisoned, as it is well known that 

 hungry cattle when hurried along will eat the most conspicuous 

 plants, and under such circumstances quite large losses may occur. 

 It is evident, then, that in handling cattle in areas where the tall 

 larkspur is abundant, particularly early in the season, great care 

 should be taken that they should not come upon these areas when 

 they are especially hungry. The subject of the proper handling of 

 range animals in order to avoid poisoning is treated more specifically 



