Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1914-11-13
DEVELOPING WATER
 ON GRAZING LANDS
U. S. Bureau Gives Informa tion Showing How Water
 Can Be Easily Secured.

How rangen which ordinarily can not be grazed because of inadequate water facilities can be opened up TOT stock, is told by the department ot agriculture in farmers bulletin 592 on the development and improvement of stock watering places upon national forests.
 No stock range can be said to be properly utilized, the department ayers, if there is an uneven distrlbu- ton of water. On some areas the Wa ter supply is not sufficient for the number of stock the forage will sup port. On others the water supply Is sufficient, but is not permanent, mak- ing it necessary to remove the ami mals before the season is over. Still other areas are made practically worthless for stock purposes by the absence of water except at rare inter- vals during winter.
 Range cattle need from to 10 gal lans of water day. says the depart ment, and sheep from 1s to 2 gallons, unless there is heavy dew and an abundance of succulent feed. No mat ter how good the forage on a given area may be, animals must have all the water they need or they will not thrive. Cattle, moreover, should not be required to travel on an average more than 2 miles to reach water, if they are tc be in marketable cOndi- tion in the fall.
 The flow from ordinary springs, and even from seeps, can be increased by digging then; out and curbing the sides with cement, the water being carried in pipes td conveniently situ- ated troughs. Swampy spots can often he made to furnish water sup ply by cutting an open channel from some spring in the middle of them, perhaps cutting ether channels across the main one, and drawing the spring and surface water to some storage roint outside Streams flowing through deep canyons may be made accessible to stock by constructing trails over wl.ich the animals can reach them, or by raising the water to the surface of the canyon by me- chanical means.
 When 8 natural water supply is some distance from the range, small dirt flood-water reservoirs can be constructed almost anywhere to sup plement the natural supply. If a low place with q heavy adobe or clay soil is selected in the middle of some open park with sloping hills about it, con- paratively little work with blow and scraper will construct a reservoir which, when trampled and puddled by use, will hold enough water for many head of stock for some time. Fur rows running diagonally across the slopes will collect the rainfall or melting snow waters and carry them directly to the reservoir for storage.
 Artificia3 reservoirs permit the stock to be scattered out over larger area than ordinarily, and remove the need for them to concentrate at permanent watering places.
 Where the natural water supply is more than 30 feet below the surface of the ground the best way to reach it, says the department, is by drilling or boring a well and raising the wa ter by means of a windmill or pump. A deep well of from 150 to 300 feet, such as is common in the Texas Pan handle region, complete with wind mill, truck, troughs, etc.. represents an investment of about $1,000, and should easily supply between $50 and 300 cattle daily No we'll is complete, claims the department, without res ervoir with a capacity large enough to carry the stock dependent upon it over a long calm spell. The cost of a reservoir holding approximately 2O0,- GOO gallons of water should not ex- ceed $100.
 The best kind of trough for holding water derived from wells and springs, thinks the department, is the ordi- nary metal one used by stockmen. It is light in weight, will last long time, and costs little. However, where the materials are readily available and the cost of cement is not prohibit tive, the department recommends con- crete as better than any other trough material.
 Work has been done on the national forests to improve the water facilities on the range lands. In all total of 676 separate water improvement pro- iects have been developed 329 by the users of the range themselves, 172 through cooperation between the for. est service and the users, and 175 by the service alone Of these 676 inn provements, 37S are springs or seeps, 2S6 are reservoirs or tanks, while the rest are wells. trails. and the like.