The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1907-10-31
RESTOCKING The RANGES.
Serious Problem as Viewed by State
Veterinarian of Washington.

veterinarian OF warrington.
During the past few weeks DR.. S. B
Nelson, state veterinarian of Washing
ton has spent considerable time il
Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield anc
Asotin counties, examining many
bands OF sheep that are kept in these
counties, as to their general health,
with particular reference to fscab. !"
Recently, in discussing things Of In
terest he had observed In going from
one sheep camp to another, DR.. Nelson
came to the problem OF restocking
the ranges" which is now 30 absorb
ing to stockmen.
zone of the serious problems now
confronting the stockmea Of this state
il the question of restocking the ranges
with the original bunch grass" he
said. "Old settlers tell us that when
they came here forty years ago, the
buDcA grass was from two to three feet
tall, and very heavy. The promiscu-
| GUS grazing Of the stock over the ranges
has put them in their present bare, or
semi bare, condition The retaining
OF these vast tracts of grazing land is a
problem to which the agricultural de-
partments OF various institutions have
given great deal of attention.
Some eeven or eight years ago
rode over these same ranges and found
the bunch grass practically all gone in
many places. This condition could
be observed for miles and miles as the
ranges were ridden over. Recently
was very much astonished is passing
through these same regions to find that
thousands of acres had been fenced,
while equally large tracts were not
fenced, but were held as summer range
by sheepmen who practically controlled
them. / observed that these ranges,
bare several years ago, were, at the
time of my visit, covered with luxur-
liant growth of bunch grass, standing
from eighteen to thirty inches high. In
places the grass was 80 heavy that 1t |
could not be moved for hay. l was
also much surprised to see that In
places that had been protected for a
loss number Of years, the heavy bHEches
of grass were scattered, and between
the big punches, punches from two to
three years old were we'll started. 1t
was very easy to pick out bunch OF
two yesr-old grass from among num-
Der of the older punches. In looking
into theis question l discovered how it
was that these ranges had been re-
stocked.
''The sheep are kept on these winter
ranges from the time they come out of
the mountains In the fall, during Sep
tember and early October, until after
lambing and a short time the follow
irg spring. Early in the spring the
sheep eat the young, tender bunch
grass, but the sheep are well scattered
"a good herder nearly always keeps his
sheep scattered) the bunch grass as it
gets older becomes tougher, and the
sheep do not like it so well. By the
after part of April and early in May,
he sheep prefer the many weeds, espe-
tally sunfowers, never touching bunch
Irass at all. Many, many times dur
ng my trips through these counties,
Jaw bands OF from fifteen to twenty )
i've hundred sheep grazing in bunch Z
,rass from one foot to eighteen inches
Ugh and never touching it. They were I
,icking out the little weeds in between
be punches Of grass, and wherever
here were areas of sunhowers, they V
would eat the flowers perfectly clean $
wherever they went.
"From the first to Ne fifteenth of a
une the sheep are taken into the
and kept until the latter v
orf nf Gn,Nta,,,Iar r,ho h. | ii
he ,p are brought back in September, 9
he bunch grass has seeded, the seed |,
cling scattered over the ground. The u
Ill rains seem to soften the bunch o.
rass, making it tender so that the =
heep eat it greedily. In this way, by
ating the early shoots before the grass
PES to seed, and then eating this ma "
Ire, semi-cured grass after it has gone
, seed, the seed is saved on the ground
nd resown, and the stand of bunch V,
-ass is continually increased. ri
"1his has demonstrated to me very W
rongly, that if men owning large 9,
.eas OF grazing land expect to keep :
leir ranges up to the present stand w
ID, or even increase the stand of re
inch grass, that they must of neces- h,
ty protect the bunch grass at least n
cry other year, during its seeding in
me; that is, from the time the seed n
,gins to form until the mature seeds N
Q shattered on the ground / am n,
nvinced that the problem of restock- er
G the ranges may to q very large ex- Ia
MT be solved by fencing the grazing GO
nds, and, at intervals, resting them" w
W
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