Casco Bay breeze. [volume] (South Harpswell, Me.) 1901-1917, 1907-07-04
MINIATURE ALMANAC
Week of July 4 TO July 10.
IMPROVEMENT OF RANGES.
Plan Of the Forest Service to Reseed
the Worn Out Grazing Lands.

Overcrowding of the grazing lands
OF the public domain of the West be-
fore the creation of the national for
ests brought many of the ranges into
very poor condition, and many stock
men have requested advice on posi-
Die methods of increasing the forage.
The bureau of plant industry of the
Department of Agriculture and the
forest service have just Joined in CO.
operative work in investigating the
best means to develop an increased for
age crop in the overgrazed national
forest
Frederick ". Coville, of the bureau
OF plant industry, has been placed in
charge Of the work of making these
Investigations and will report to the
Forester In the matter. The fields in
which these investigations will i'm
medfately begin are located as follows:
lmnaha National Forest, Oregon; Saw
tooth national forest, Idaho, and Pixies
Peak national forest, Colorado. The
work in each forest will be in charge
OF special inspector or special agent
reporting to Mr.. Coville.
Mr.. Coville is we'll fitted to conduct
these investigations in reseeding the
ranges. as he has had extensive ex-
perience in much other work along
the same line. In 1898 he compiled a
report on sheep grazing in the Cascade
Mountains of Oregon for the forest
service, and in 1904 in the service of
the Public Lands Commission investi-
gated and made report on grazing I'M
der state lease laws. He is a director
OF the botanical experiment station of
the Carnegi. Institute at Tucson,
Ariz., and is lending valuable service
In the bureau plant industry of the
Department of Agriculture.
The especial significance Of this new
departure lies in the fact that 1t shows
the forest service is not only trying to
prevent abuse from making the range
worse, but Is also taking active steps
TO make the range better. Obviously
this is Of large Importance to the
grazing industry. All grazing tends
to change the character of the forage,
generally for the worse, Just as timber
cutting tends to change the character
OF the forest for the worse by taking
Ing the poorer kinds to take their
places.
One Of the first results OF over graz
Ing Is seen In the increase in the mum
Der Of weeds which stock either refuse
to eat or avoid as long as anything
better can be found, and which there
fore go to seed. IL the natural grazing
land of the West Is to be made the
most of, IL must grow the kinds of for
age which will give the range the high
est value per acre to the stockmen. II
1t, therefore, fact of considerable in
terest to the { .ock industry that the
matter is to be taken up scientifically
TO find out In the light OF full knowl-
edge Of the requirements and the feed
ing value of all kinds of plants wha;
IL will pay to try to introduce In the
national forests.
In the management OF grazing on
some Of the ranges the forest service
has found IL necessary to reduce great
~ the number of stock in order to
stop the damage from overgrazing OF
the land. That this damage has taken
place Is admitted by the stockmen
NhrHIcriNtrs
In attempting to increase the amount
OF forage by artificial seeding, II posi-
bic, the principal questions to be set
tied are whether It is practicable to
seed these ranges OF any portion OF
them with seed OF either native or
cultivated grasses or other forage
plants, and what system of range man.
agement Of both cattle and sheep will
best permit the valuable native
grasses to reseed themselves and thus
increase the carrying capacity of the
range. II the problems can be solved
in the ranges where the investigations
are about to begin, other experiments
will naturally follow in practically eli
of the national forests which contain
range lands.