Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1907-09-06
TO
RESEED RANGE
The Forest Service Will
Help Increase Forage
Feed

WASHINGTON, D. c.. Sept. 6.-The
livestock industry turns to account one
of the greatest natural resources of the
West-the forage crop.
From the plains to the Pacific an as
large proportion of the
area is grazing land. 1t is estimated
that this region contains over 400, 000,- !
900 acres which are useful at present
only for pasturing stock. A map
printed in colors to bring out the main
areas of agricultural, grazing, and
desert lands was published not long
ago. 1t showed the grazing-land color
spread like a sheet over nearly all this
vast domain, which comprises some
thing like one-t third of the entire
United States, with relatively minor
patches of the other colors. In arid
regions the range is comparatively
poor, but almost everywhere enough
forage plants can grow to make graz
ing profitable.
The Forest Service, in cooperation
with the Bureau of Plant Industry, has
begun a series of experiments tic find
out how the carrying power of grazing
! lands within national forests can be
increased. In a nutshell, the problems
are. first. how to grow, and second,
| forage. The conclusions reached are
likely to have an important bearing on
improved use of the open range gen.
orally The economic possibilities of
! thasa exper 'ments are enormous.
! In the past the stockman on the
Nature offered him. But grazing tends
| to put Nature at a disadvantage.
| Plants which propagate by seed, for
example, have no chance when the
seed stalks are being eaten off all the
time. In many grazing regions the
carrying power of the range has been
very greatly reduced through the
present methods of use. Within ma
tiona1 forests the restriction of the
number of stock to the capacity of the
range has, already checked the worst
evils which result from overgrazing.
But the new Investigations promise
much greater things.
Study Grass Cultivation.
These investigations are to be car
red out along three distinct lines
studies of what can be done in the way
of introducing cultivated grasses
studies of range improvement through
better knowledge of how wild grasses
propagate, and studies of no VITO ham
die both cattle and sheep so as to re-
duce the waste due to herding and
trampling The present account deals
with the first, the Introduction of Gull
tivated grass.
The man in charge of these studies
is Frederick V. Gov lie, of the bureau
of plant industry, who is an expert in
matters connected with the use of the
range Mr.. Coville made a careful
study of grazing problems in the Cas-
cade mountains of oregon for the in
terror department ten years ago, and
contributed to the discussion of graz
ing questions which formed part of
the public lands commission report
made in 1905. 1t was on his recon-
mendaton that the laboratory for
desert botanical research was estab-
lished by the Carnegie Institution OF
Washington at Tucson, Ariz He is,
| therefore, very well prepared for this
work. which, to be successful, must be
run on thoroughly practical lines.
The experiments will begin in Wal
Iowa county. in northeastern Oregon,
in the Imnaha national forest Here,
| at different attitudes, a number of
moist natural meadows have been
picked out. Those having the greatest
altitude are 10000 feet or more above
the sea, where in early July the snow
still covers the ground, although rap
idly melting under the summer sun.
The lowest meadows are about 5000
feet above sea level.
| The purpose of these wet-meadow
summer range. Stock do not winter
in the mountains, but are driven grad
ually higher and higher as the advan-
cling season calls forth the vegetation
on which they feed, The winter ranges
1 on the plains, supplemented largely
by the hay, alfalfa and other feed
crops which the ranches produce, de-
pend for their utilization upon this
summer pasturage, TO which the stock
can be driven when the dry season sets
in. If means can be found to improve
the summer range the benefit viii be
felt from Canada to Arizona and New
Mexico, so that the experiments are Of
broad importance.