24 LrGuMINOS#. 
when a plant is poisonous, the poisonous principle is usually more con- 
centrated’in the seed than elsewhere (Strychnos, Sophora, Physostigma) so 
that the foliage of feebly poisonous plants, especially in mixed fodder, 
may be eaten without danger, provided an excess is not taken (Cytsus, 
Swainsona, Crotalaria, Gastrolobium). In still other cases, Melilotus, 
Euphorbia Drummondit, &c., pronounced injurious effects are only 
experienced on an almost exclusive diet of the plant in question; and if 
care is taken to avoid that or to give change of food no special danger 
is to be apprehended. Further, the poison may be volatile, as in Pangium 
edule and the Laurel, or may be destroyed by drying, as in buttercups, 
sq that the herbage when dry or steamed may be harmless. This whole 
subject affords another argument against unlimited free grazing, and in 
favour of the penning and resting methods of pasturage and the fodder, 
silage and root-crop modes of feeding stock. This prevents the stock 
acquiring a predilection for, and seeking out exclusively, herbage which 
may be injurious to them when eaten in excess (indigo eaters, ‘‘ locoed ’’ 
stock, &c.). 
Professor Martin has closely investigated the action of Swainsona 
galegifolia on sheep and finds that its effects are similar to those produced 
by slow poisoning with alcohol and certain toxic proteids, peripheral 
neuritis and degeneration of the nerve endings accompanied by a loss of 
muscular control resulting. The action is a slow one, four to six weeks 
being required to produce serious symptoms. If at once returned to 
proper fodder, recovery will take place, but not when paralytic symptoms 
have supervened. Young lambs probably respond more rapidly to the 
poison ; and when the symptoms are fully established there is no remedy. 
A practical precaution is, however, to keep the sheep penned in paddocks 
wherever Darling Pea is found, and to see that they do not remain in any 
paddock where the plant is growing for longer than three or four weeks. 
Apart from its poisonous action the plant is a nutritious one, so that in 
this way it can be kept down and its food value utilized without permanent 
danger. It is evident that the less of the Darling Pea eaten in a given, 
time, the longer the poisonous action will be delayed, but what proportion 
would be permanently innocuous is unknown. Probably a proportion of 
5 to to per cent. would be harmless. In any case, supplementing the 
grazing with some artificial food (fodder, silage, roots, chaff, &c.), would 
lessen the danger while the sheep were in an infested paddock. Plants 
accused in America of producing similar results to Swaimsoua are Astra- 
galus mollissimus, Torr.; A. lentiginesus, Doug.; A. Hornii, A. Gray; 
Crotalaria sagittalis, L. ; Oxytropis Lamberti, Pursh. The genus Sopsora 
also appears to include several poisonous species. Templetonia egena, 
Benth., appears to have poisonous properties, but no exact investigations 
have been carried out. ; 
Trifolium angustifolium, L., the Spring Clover, and Trifolium arvense, 
L., the Hare’s-foot Clover, are among the few true clovers that are weeds 
of no value. Both are introduced plants, natives of Europe, Asia and 
Africa, but neither appears to be very common, 
The Crimson Clover (Trifolium incarnatum, L.) is a native of Southern 
Europe. Though often grown as a catch crop in rotation farming in the 
south of England, it is a very dangerous plant for permanent 
pastures. When fully grown the plant develops hairs on its flowers, which 
often ball together in the stomachs of stock, and may cause death. If cut 
as soon as flowering begins, the plant may be used directly or in the form 
of silage and then yields good feed. 
Ulex europaeus, L. Furze or Gorse. A shrub of two to three feet, 
or even twice that height when old and luxuriant, more or less hairy, 
