The Darling Pea

Western Star, Issue 1294, 6 March 1897, Page 1 (Supplement)

The Darling Pea

The ' Darling pea' or ' Indigo' that the following extracts from letters refer to is the Swainsona galegifolia. Messrs Gleeson in ftxe Myalla districts; vriting to the Stock Department in 1888, states that 70 per cent, of their young lambs were affected by it, and in this case the plant was not yet in flower. The greater mortality may be due to the fact that at such time the pea is often pratically the only herbage, and is especially green and inviting, We do not regard the Darling pea as , such a scourge as some do, and we do not think that healthy sheep ever eat it, Salt is an antidote to it, and so long as plenty of salt is supplied in the paddocks sheep either will not eat it, or if they do will not suffer any ill effects from it. We have killed many sheep suffering from what is popularly called pea eating, and always found them full of worms but whether the worms are caused by eating the pea or the worms in the sheep cause them to eat the pea I cannot tell.' Captain A. S. Menzies, Reedy Greek, Inverell, writes as follows ; —' I have had twenty year's experience of the 'Darling pea,' or 'lndigo,' and am convinoed it is nothing else but poison. When stock eat it they will eat nothing else as long ,as they can get Indigo. They soon fall away have a wiid, distressed look, an awkward, quivering gait, distorted limbs and ; features and die at last in an emaciated state. It appears to me a narcotic poison, acting on the nerves and brain. The losses on stock all through these districts are large from this cause, especially among young sheep, and the plant seems to be increasing. It is Worse in sheep country than where cattle are run, probably because the latter country is never so heavily stocked. It should be noted that the poison has a marked effect on the fleece of an ' indigo eater.' The wool is nearly always very clean, peculiarly soft, light in condition, and fine in quality. The growth of the wool, as far as length is concerned, does nob seem to be at all checked but the fleeoe generally is much lighter. The effects generally of the poison pea through these districts are simply disastrous. It is impossible to properly stock the country, and even with all precautions, and. with constant care, the losses are at all times very large.' , .

Dr. E. J. Henry, Government Medical Officers, Warialda Districts, writes aa follows :—'ln respect to 'pea-eating' cattle, my opportunities for study of the subject have been limited to observing the appearance and gait of the cattle and sheep affected. They fall off markedly iu condition and become miserable and drooping, and, even though removed to good grws country, long, and perhaps permanently, if confirmed pea-eaters, remains poor* Their coats lose gloasinesa of health and are rough; indeed the rough coat alone will draw one's attention to an affeoted, beast* ....,'

4 They have a shuffling unsteady gait, and are prone to run into obstacles—(climb trees,' as the bush people laconically term it. lam under the impression that the iris is unusually dilated, though to what extent and for what period it is difficult, and this causes loss of the power of accommodating the vision to a nicety for light and for distance to some extent. This accounts, lam of opinion, for runing objects. The cerebellum ,is probably afieoted also more or less by the pea, and this disturbs the co-ordinating and equilibration medianism rendering the gait awkward and staggery in bad cases. The Late Rev. Dr. Wm. WoollsF.L.S. writes :—As the accounts respecting the poison pea of the Darling vary considerably, it seams probable that the effects of the, plant is very much modified by; the season. In dry season, for instance (such as that of ' 1865, when the grasses and tender plants failed, and the animals fed abundantly on 'Swainsona'), more mischief appears to have arisen than in favourable years, when forage plants spring up in profusion, and afford a varied nutriment for sheep and cattle. . ' Of the Darling pea, Mr. Wm. Nepean Hutchison says that stock readily devour it and it takes little to drive them perfectly silly. On one occasion a mob of travelling sheep camped no distance from the town of Taroom. Quantities of the pea growing about where the horses were nobbled for the night. The following morning it was noticed how strange the animals appeared. They had been on the road some nine weeks, and were up to this date caught without any trouble, but on this particular occasion it took several of the men to do so. Their eyes where Blaring out of their heads, and they were prancing against trees and stumps. The second day two out of the nine died, and five others have to be left at the camp. • When driven they would suddenly stop, turn rpund and round, and keep throwing up their heads as if they had been hit under the jaw j they would then fall, lie down for a while, and go through the same agonising performance when they once more attempt to stand. On one station in the course of a few weeks eight head were shot, having injured themselves past all hope of recovery.