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 
