6 
BULLETIN 1245, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
THE BEECH FAMILY (FAGACE^E). 
OAK (SPECIES OF QUERCUS). 
Fig. 
A heifer suffering from poisoning bv the scrub 
oak of Ftab. 
Throughout the grazing regions of the West there is a very general 
belief in the poisoning properties of oak leaves, more particularly in 
regard to their sup- 
posed toxic properties 
for cattle. It is quite 
generally thought that 
poisonous effects are 
produced in the spring, 
when cattle are eating 
the buds and y o u n g 
leaves. This belief ap- 
plies especially to the 
Gambel oak (Quercus 
ganibellii) , which is a 
common scrub oak of 
Colorado, Utah, and 
New Mexico, and to the 
shinnery oak (Quercus 
havardi), a low shrub 
in eastern New Mexico 
and western Texas. 
Extended experiments have been carried out upon these plants by 
the United States Department of Agriculture. 
It has been found that when cattle eat very heavily of oak forage, 
especially in the spring, when the foliage is tender and attractive 
and the grasses have not started, many animals contract so-called 
" oak poisoning," show- 
ing constipation, black 
and bloody feces, ema- 
ciation, and surface 
swellings on the body. 
This condition is so 
serious as sometimes to 
c ause a considerable 
n u m b e r of fatalities. 
It is not true, however, 
that oak forage is nec- 
essarily harmful. In 
fact, on many ranges 
the oaks furnish a very 
important element in 
the feed of cattle, and 
Fig. 4.-A "shimieried" bull In western Texas. animals generally come 
from oak ranges in the 
fall in fine condition. It has been clearly shown that an exclusive 
diet of oak is likely to result in some sick animals and consequent 
losses. If there is other forage with the oak. no bad results will fol- 
low. If cattle, in poor condition as the result of short feed in the 
winter, are tinned upon an oak range where there is little grass, some 
losses are pretty sure to follow. It pays to \'va\ cattle in the winter 
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