



Produced by Pat McCoy, Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was
produced from scanned images of public domain material
from the Google Print project.)





TRANSCRIBER NOTES:

    Words in italics are indicated with an underscore (_) at the begining
    and end. Words in bold are indicated with an equal sign (=) at the
    begining and end. Subscripts contained in chemical notations are
    indicated as _{ }.

    The table on page 32 has been modified to fit by the use of
    keys to replace some of the information.




  U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

  BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY--BULLETIN NO. 129.

  B. T. GALLOWAY, _Chief of Bureau_.


  BARIUM, A CAUSE OF THE
  LOCO-WEED DISEASE.


  BY

  ALBERT C. CRAWFORD,

  PHARMACOLOGIST, POISONOUS-PLANT INVESTIGATIONS.


  ISSUED AUGUST 22, 1908.

  [Illustration]


  WASHINGTON:
  GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
  1908.




BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY.


  _Physiologist and Pathologist, and Chief of Bureau_,
      Beverly T. Galloway.
  _Physiologist and Pathologist, and Assistant Chief of Bureau_,
      Albert F. Woods.
  _Laboratory of Plant Pathology_,
      Erwin F. Smith, Pathologist in Charge.
  _Investigations of Diseases of Fruits_,
      Merton B. Waite, Pathologist in Charge.
  _Laboratory of Forest Pathology_,
      Haven Metcalf, Pathologist in Charge.
  _Cotton and Truck Diseases and Plant Disease Survey_,
      William A. Orton, Pathologist in Charge.
  _Plant Life History Investigations_,
      Walter T. Swingle, Physiologist in Charge.
  _Cotton Breeding Investigations_,
      Archibald D. Shamel and Daniel N. Shoemaker, Physiologists in
      Charge.
  _Tobacco Investigations_,
      Archibald D. Shamel, Wightman W. Garner, and Ernest H. Mathewson,
      in Charge.
  _Corn Investigations_,
      Charles P. Hartley, Physiologist in Charge.
  _Alkali and Drought Resistant Plant Breeding Investigations_,
      Thomas H. Kearney, Physiologist in Charge.
  _Soil Bacteriology and Water Purification Investigations_,
      Karl F. Kellerman, Physiologist in Charge.
  _Bionomic Investigations of Tropical and Subtropical Plants_,
      Orator F. Cook, Bionomist in Charge.
  _Drug and Poisonous Plant Investigations and Tea Culture
      Investigations_, Rodney H. True, Physiologist in Charge.
  _Physical Laboratory_,
      Lyman J. Briggs, Physicist in Charge.
  _Crop Technology and Fiber Plant Investigations_,
      Nathan A. Cobb, Crop Technologist in Charge.
  _Taxonomic and Range Investigations_,
      Frederick V. Coville, Botanist in Charge.
  _Farm Management Investigations_,
      William J. Spillman, Agriculturist in Charge.
  _Grain Investigations_,
      Mark Alfred Carleton, Cerealist in Charge.
  _Arlington Experimental Farm_,
      Lee C. Corbett, Horticulturist in Charge.
  _Vegetable Testing Gardens_,
      William W. Tracy, sr., Superintendent.
  _Sugar-Beet Investigations_,
      Charles O. Townsend, Pathologist in Charge.
  _Western Agricultural Extension Investigations_,
      Carl S. Scofield, Agriculturist in Charge.
  _Dry-Land Agriculture Investigations_,
      E. Channing Chilcott, Agriculturist in Charge.
  _Pomological Collections_,
      Gustavus B. Brackett, Pomologist in Charge.
  _Field Investigations in Pomology_,
      William A. Taylor and G. Harold Powell, Pomologists in Charge.
  _Experimental Gardens and Grounds_,
      Edward N. Byrnes, Superintendent.
  _Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction_,
      David Fairchild, Agricultural Explorer in Charge.
  _Forage Crop Investigations_,
      Charles V. Piper, Agrostologist in Charge.
  _Seed Laboratory_,
      Edgar Brown, Botanist in Charge.
  _Grain Standardization_,
      John D. Shanahan, Crop Technologist in Charge.
  _Subtropical Laboratory and Garden, Miami, Fla._,
      Ernst A. Bessey, Pathologist in Charge.
  _Plant Introduction Garden, Chico, Cal._,
      W. W. Tracy, jr., Assistant Botanist in Charge.
  _South Texas Garden, Brownsville, Tex._,
      Edward C. Green, Pomologist in Charge.
  _Farmers' Cooperative Demonstration Work_,
      Seaman A. Knapp, Special Agent in Charge.
  _Seed Distribution_ (Directed by Chief of Bureau),
      Lisle Morrison, Assistant in General Charge.


  _Editor_, J. E. Rockwell.
  _Chief Clerk_, James E. Jones.




POISONOUS-PLANT INVESTIGATIONS.

SCIENTIFIC STAFF.


Rodney H. True, _Physiologist in Charge_.

  C. Dwight Marsh, _Expert in Charge of Field Investigations_.
  Albert C. Crawford, _Pharmacologist_.
  Arthur B. Clawson, _Expert in Field Investigations_.
  Ivar Tidestrom, _Assistant Botanist, in Cooperation with Forest
    Service_.




LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.


  U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
  BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY,
  OFFICE OF THE CHIEF,
  _Washington, D. C., April 10, 1908_.


SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith the manuscript of a technical
bulletin entitled "Barium, a Cause of the Loco-Weed Disease," prepared
by Dr. A. C. Crawford, Pharmacologist, under the direction of Dr. Rodney
H. True, Physiologist in Charge of Poisonous-Plant Investigations, and
to recommend that it be published as Bulletin No. 129 of the series of
this Bureau.

For many years the stockmen in many parts of the West have reported
disastrous consequences following the eating of so-called loco weeds
characteristic of the regions involved. While many have doubted any
causal relation between the plants