OAK-LEAF POISONING OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 21 
than to the beneficial effects of the hay. Therefore it was deter- 
mined to try this experiment early in the season. Cattle Nos. 760 
and 763 were fed on oak buds, flowers, and leaves from June 5 to 
July 4, and to each was given 3 pounds of alfalfa hay daily. Neither 
of these animals showed any ill effects from the oak. No controls 
were used with these animals, but the results of exclusive oak feeding 
at this season in preceding years make it reasonably certain that 
Nos. 760 and 763 would have shown symptoms of poisoning if they 
had not received the hay rations. This supplemented the work of 
the preceding years and made it probable that cattle would not 
suffer from oak poisoning at any season if other.f orage were provided. 
It should be added that experience at Monahans, Tex., indicated 
clearly that hay was equally beneficial in the early stages of the oak. 
Cattle No. 761 was fed entirely on oak from August 15 to Septem- 
ber 10; lost weight, became constipated, and showed mucus in the 
feces. It was not badly affected, but was a clear case of incipient 
oak-brush poisoning. This was positive evidence of the possibility 
of oak poisoning by mature leaves. While probably more cases of 
oak-brush poisoning occur in the spring, due probably to the lack of 
other forage, they may happen at any season when the conditions 
are favorable. 
EXPERIMENTAL WORK WITH "SHINNERY" OAK. 
From March 20, 1917, to May 20, 1917, Mr. Clawson was stationed 
at Monahans, Tex., to study so-called "shinnery' 7 oak (Quercus 
Jiavardi) poisoning. Arrangements had been made by Mr. W. N. 
Waddell, of Fort Worth, Tex., by which corrals and pastures could 
be used on the ranch of Estes and Brantley. 
The soil near Monahans is sandy, with areas of gypsum rock, and 
the vegetation consists largely of shinnery oak, mesquite, bear grass 
(Nolina), some sage, some grama grass, and a few weeds, the grass 
and weeds appearing in rather small numbers after rains. In the 
early spring the vegetation consists essentially of oak, mesquite, 
bear grass, and sage. As seen over most of the range, the oak is a 
low-spreading shrub a foot or two in height. Where it has been pro- 
tected from grazing it may grow from 3 to 6 feet in height. 
Figure 14 shows the condition of the shinnery on a grazed pasture 
March 27, 1917, and figure 15 the plants April 15, 1917, when they 
were in flower. Figure 16 shows a group of cattle April 3, 1917, 
grazing on a sandhill covered with shinnery, and in figure 17, taken 
on the same date, a 2-months-old calf is shown in the foreground 
eating shinnery. In the early spring the cattle eat very largely of 
the oak, as there is very little other forage. 
It was found that the conditions of the locality were such as to 
make corral feeding impracticable. The cattle, however, are grazed 
in large, fenced pastures, with fixed watering places, at which wind- 
