12 
Bulletin 113. 
The response to this letter of inquiry was, in some respects, 
disappointing. Of those who were courteous enough to reply, 
93 per cent had experienced loss from various poisonous weeds, 
ranging from one-half of one per cent, to sixty per cent. Seventy- 
five per cent, of those replying acknowledged that while they had 
lost animals from some kind of poisoning, yet they were not familiar 
with larkspur, and expressed a profound ignorance regarding the 
identity of the plants mentioned. All kinds of harmless weeds 
were sent to the Station, presuming them to be larkspur, or some¬ 
thing equally as dangerous. Four expressed the opinion very 
emphatically that, while their ranges were infested with larkspur, 
yet they had suffered no inconvenience and did not expect to so 
long as the range was not overstocked and plenty of salt was pro¬ 
vided . 
In answer to question No. 4, the loss ranged from one to five 
per cent., covering a period of from one to twenty years. In ques¬ 
tion No. 5 the greatest loss in any one year ranged from one to 
sixty per cent. The latter being in case of a small herd being 
driven through the mountains where they came near being ex¬ 
terminated. 
Of those attacked the report was that from five to one hundred 
per cent. died. The remedies suggested were as follows: 
Bleeding from the ear-vein or under the tail. 
Tapping through the side and allowing the gas to escape. 
Turning the head uphill when down. Chasing the poisoned animals, 
and keeping them on the run. 
Slitting the skin in the forehead and pouring in turpentine. 
Tobacco, internally, in uncertain quantities. 
Bacon, cut into small strips and forced down the throat. 
Linseed oil given by drench. 
Bleeding and tapping through the side appear to be the uni¬ 
versal remedies, and most every answer contained an emphatic 
statement that animals could be saved by this treatment. 
Of the specimens sent, about one-half proved to be larkspur. 
In answer to question No. 11, forty per cent, believed larkspur 
to kill by bloat, like alfalfa, and that if they could be tapped soon 
enough, would all recover. The altitude ranged all the way from 
5,000 to 11,000 feet. There was general agreement that the early 
spring was the most dangerous period. A few had lost cattle 
and sheep in August, at high elevations. The greatest loss was re¬ 
ported in cattle; next in sheep, and a few reported loss of horses. 
In answer to question No. 15, seventy-one per cent, replied in 
the negative, and the remaining twenty-nine per cent, were sure 
that lack of salt caused an abnormal appetite for noxious weeds. 
Practically all agreed that rain and snow, in some way, greatly 
aggravated the trouble. 
