The Loco Weed.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3953, 2 November 1891, Page 3

The Loco Weed.

V Leader) that the loco weed has found W its way to Australia from America. * The loco weed is to vegetation what a rattlesnake is to anirn-1 life- The name comes from the Spanish and signifiqaassanity. It is a dusky green and grows in small bnncbe3 or handfuls, and scatters itself in a sparse and meagre way about the country. It is a sert of vegetable nomad and travels not a little. Localities Where it this season flourishes in abundance may not see any of it next year, nor indeed for a number of years to come. The prime property of the loco is to produce insanity in men and animals who partake of it. Animals —mules, hoises, sheep, »nd cattle—avoid it naturally, and under ordinary circumstances never touch it. But in the winter, when an inch cr two of snow has covered th« green grasses these green branches of loco, standing clear above ihe snow, are tempting Even then it is JJpcommOn for them to eat it. Still some do, and it at once creates an appetite in the victim similar in hs intense force to the alcohol habit in mankind. Once started on the downwaid path of loco, a male will abandon all other kinds of feed and look for it. In a short time its effects become perfectly apparent. You will see a locoed mule standing out in the shadowless plains, with not a living, moving thing in his vicinity. His head is drooping and his eyes half closed. On the instant he will kick and thrust out his heels in the most warlike way. Under the influence of loco he sees himself surrounded by multitudes of threatening ghosts, and is repelling them. The mind of the animal is completely gone. He cannot be driven or worked because of his utter lack of reason.