RAGWORT POISONING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 259, 1 November 1932, Page 15

RAGWORT POISONING.

DEADLY EFFECT ON COWS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) PAEEOA, Monday. The danger of giving ragwort a chance to get a hold on the Hauraki Plains is shown by a local instance. Recently a man took up a farm on the Hauraki Plains and picked out 50 splendidlooking cows at various clearing sales in the Rotorua district. The cows appeared to be doing very well on the rich pasture and to be in tip-top condition when they calved, so that the prospects for the coming season appeared to be excellent. The milk returns were satisfactory. However, shortly after calving, a number of the cows became ill, and they died. To date 15 of the 50 cows have died from, the effects of ragwort poisoning. The peculiar feature of this plant is that its effect is slowacting, as is the case with drugs, and once the supply of the poison is cut off death comes quickly. One of the affected cows was killed by a veterinary surgeon in the presence of a number of interested persons, and' its internal organs were examined. It was found that most of the organs were as hard as leather, so that they were unable to function properly, and that most of the internal fat was dropsied. Those who were present at the autopsy wondered that the cow had been able to live so long.