, 1902-04-14
The Management and Improvement Of
the Range.
Ipress Bulletin Issued by Wyoming Agricultural College

[Press Bulletin Issued by Wyoming Agricultural Conegel
Stock raising is and will always remain the leading indus
try of Wyoming. With ample pasturage for the stock during
the spring, summer and autumn and a sufficient supply OF hay
as a reserve for winter use, this industry is a profitable one
in the state. How to utilize the grazing lands and at the same
time preserve their stoek-supporting capacity nimpaired from
year 10 year, and how best 10 restore overstocked and depleted
ranges to their former productivity are questions of vital I'M
portance 10 the stockmen.
There is no doubt but that the range may be grazcd the
year around without injury if the number OF animals be small,
but, when stocked to its utmost capacity, it is imperative that
it be given a sufIcier. period OF rest during the growing season.
This would necessitatc a division of the grazing lands into a
number of fields and a pasuring of these in rotation. In this
way 1t is possible to maintain the productivity of the grazing
land, and with such treatment a more economical use is made
of the pastures. An intelligent management of the pastures
is readily instituted on individual or corporate holdings, but
how to guard against the deterioration Of the open range
through injudicious practices is still an unsettled question.
In the improvement OF deterorated grazing lands other
, .means than thai. OF rest must be employed in order to more
I speediy restore them to their former forage value. Unless
enough grass remains to reseed the land, rest alone will not
bring about the desired result. The range must be reseeded
to pasture grasses whose merits are well known. and which are
adapted to this region.
What grasses to use and how to seed them are questions
which confront the stochmen. No grasses better suited to this
climate Or OF more value for grazing purposes can be found
than some of those growing naturally in this region. The ma
tive grasses are the ones to use, and these may be supplemented
by such tame sorts as are adapted to III arid lands. A few
of the grasses growing without cultivation in the Rocky Noun
tain states have already been domesticated, and seeds of these
are now on the market. Many other promising ones are being
dence is felt that seeds of the better ones will be procurable from
seedsmen in the near future. Many of these produce seed
quite abundantly and stockmen can, therefore, collect seeds of
them to sow on the range. The stock1nan ought to be we'll
informed on the grasses and forage plants of his own locality,
and it would be a most conmendable thing if he would expert
ment for himself and grow on a small scale those native sorts
which he considers especially valuable.
In the reseeding of the range it would be too expensive
and entirely impracticable to prepare an elaborate seed bed,
yet it is best to aid the seed in securing a Judgement in the soil
favorable to its termination and growth. The most practicable
means to employ is to use a fnetoothed harrow or a disk har-
row, or both. After the seed has been sown broadcast the har-
how should be weighted and driven over the field in one or two
directions. The best results will be obtained if the reseeding
can be done while the ground is moist, or before a rain, and on
account of the shortness of the season spring rather tran fall
sowing is recommended tor this reS1OI. he cultivation given
the land by this method OF reseeding not only covers mostof the
seed sown, but is beneficial to such grass as is already present on
the land. One practice is to sow the seed when the ground is
wet and then drive stock over the land to work it into the soil.
This method may be employed whenever practicable and will
The restoration of an exhausted piece of land by r~eseeding
cannot be accomplished in one or two years. During the first
season the young seedlings will make but a small, leafy growth
on the surface OF the ground, and most OF our native species,
very probably be required for the grasses sown to grow suAi-
GENTLY to afford much pastnrage. The range will need to be
managed carefully, while being renewed, in order that the
desired result may be attained.
Narrowing, alone. without any sowing of seed, greatly
improves the range. This, to be most effective, should be done
in the spring when the grasses start to grow. The cutting up of
the sod and the loosening of the soil is conducive to a more
vigorous growth of the grasses. and the cultivation Tins given
to the land is favorable to the termination of such seed as NAV
have ripened on the range. When the disk harrow is used the
gangs may be set slanting. This will turn up the soil somewhat
and thus help to hold some of the rainwater which would ether
wise run off the land. In order to retain as much as possible of
the rain water the disk harrow NAV be run on the level or in
other words, at right angles to the course which the water
would take.
Much may be done to place the range in better condi-
ton. Some stockn1en have practced a systematic grazing of
their fields in rotation and have noted a marked improvement
in forage value as the result of such management. Certain
stockmen never Craze each field for a longer period than three
months. Alternate resting and pasturing allows Of a recu-
peration. which is essential to the life of the grasses. AT Abb
lene, Tex, where experiments in range improvements are in
operation. disking was found to improve pasture land rs per
cent: The disking cost 40 cents per acre and from the results
obtained was considered profitable. Stockmen will find it to
their interest to practice systematic resting of their grazing
land and to improve the same by narrowing and disking.
ELIAS NELSON,
assistant in Horticulture and Agyostology.
April S, 1909.
1.-THE above is a condensed article from a series accom-
panied by cuts of some of the best grasses for this and adioin-
ing states. 1t is expected that when The cuts are prepared a
bulletin will be published containing the complete article and
the cuts-F. Z. FL