1The plant of which a sample was sent from St. Arnaud, is the Euphorbia Drummondi. This weed has in various places and on many occasions been the cause of losses in flocks of sheep, and it is well known to contain a virulent poison-principle,2 the action of which is so rapid that chances for antidotes to be given hardly exist. Under these circumstances it is advisable to break up the ground where this Euphorbia abounds, and to sow it with the seeds of perennial nourishing grasses and pasture herbs, the growth of which will subdue the Euphorbia and at the same time improve the pasturage.
It has also been found that, where the mischief from the Euphorbia occurred, the pastures had been much over-stocked, whereby the good natural grasses became fed out, as well as the indigenous herbage, when such a plant as the Euphorbia gets ample scope for spreading, particularly in seasons of drought, as it is a weed that will, to a remarkable extent, resist dryness.
Euphorbia Drummondi
The article begins:''Specimens of a plant, supposed to be poisonous, were received recently from the Secretary of the Kara Kara Shire Council, and it was alleged that fully 100 sheep had died, and in some of their carcases a quantity of the weed was found. About the samee time a letter was received from Mr. F. J. Mogg, of Swanwater, intimating that between 100 and 200 of his sheep had died, as he believed, from eating some poisonous plant. On inquiry it was ascertained that the plant, which Mr. Mogg believed had caused the death of his sheep, was identical with that received from the Kara Kara Shire Council. The matter having been referred to the Government Botanist, the following report was supplied by him:—'. It is presumed that M would have directed his report to the Secretary for Agriculture, D. Martin.
M's opinion that E. drummondi was 'well known' to be poisonous was not univerersally accepted. Stanley (1890) includes a section dated 13 December 1887 in which Stanley, the Principal Veterinarian to the NSW Government, details experiments with the species, writing that 'With reference to the question of the properties of this weed, I have the honor to report that, while in Melbourne, I interviewed Baron von Mueller on the subject, and as I have every respect for the view he takes on the matter, I am especially careful in giving my opinion' (p. 25). In the main part of the article, where experimenst with sheep were described, he concluded that 'the weed is not the cause of the many deaths that have occurred throughout these districts … and the absence of any medicinal effects from the use of such large quantities makes me doubt its possessing any poisonous properties whatever' (p. 21).
Letter not found. The text given here is from 'Euphorbia Drummondi,' Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture, Victoria, June 1888, p. 43 (B88.13.13).
Please cite as “FVM-88-00-00g,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on