The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1914-01-16
.GR.A ING METHODS
AND MEAT SUP q z
Are Very Much interviewer
Says the Federal Associate
Forester in Address.
S4T lake -ir.Trry

! u. S. Forest Service, made an address
before the National Woolgrowers'
| Association here today and said that
the question Of meat supply is in
voIved in the methods Of grazing used
/! on the national forests. He also made
I the statement that overgrazed rang
/ es can be improved quicker through
| use than they could be if they were
4 left idle.
4 He points out that the forage re-
! sources on the national forests repre-
sent a valuable asset upon which not
| only hhe welfare Of the stockn1en de-
( ponds. but that of a larger proper
4 ton of the people. The task Eof the
I government has been to work out a
/ plan which would develop this re-
source and promote its use to the
fullest extent without harmtng tree
/ growth.
l During the first three years of adj
| ministration, from 1905-T, the prob
/ lem OF the service was to take care
| of areas which had been badly over
/ grazed, and material reduction had
7 to be made in the number of stock
I grazed before the damage could be
! stopped From the very beginning,
1 the forest service invited the cooper
alton OF the stockmen and consulted
with them regarding the practicable
ity of the plans which We're to be
adopted. This cooperation was Sc
cured through the various stockgrow7
ers' associations and it was so sue
cessful that similar associations have
grown up among other users of the
national forests.
Before range control was put into
effect, the feed belonged to the man.
who got his stock on the land first.
though there was no way by which he
y-yN11l tool
Under such a system might made
right, and the only thought was to
get what feed there was while it
lasted This condition led to serious
controversy and out of it grew the
range wars which often resulted In
loss of life and property. Under the
present control, right prevails, and
had nothing else been accomplished,
Mr.. Potter says, the removal of this
one evil alone would have made the
work worth while.
But he goes still further and states
that the systematic use OF the ranges
has stopped loss of forage and that
the feed formerly wasted has been
putting the stock in better condition,
with the result that, in many cases,
the stockmenL have been able to sell
beef and m1fbton direct from the
ranges where they were before pro-
llcing. only animals which had to be
fed and conditioned before they could
be put on the market. He called at
tention to the experiments of the
government in artificially reseeding
the grazing area to cultivated grasses,
and showed that in some cases the
forage crop has increased as mucn as
400 per cent. He maintained, how
ever. that this method is both slow
and expensive and said that the great
part OF the range lands must be
improved by protection and natural
reseedfng, for the next 20 years at
least. He says, too, that investiga-
lions have esta blished beyond a7doubt
that natural reseeding can be accom-
plfshed best by rotation system of
grazing based upon the simple prtn-
ciple that grazing aids In scattering
and planting the seed after the seed
has been given an opportunity TO ma
urc Reports show that areas pro-
tected until after seed maturity and
then grazed, as compared with areas
absolutely protected for the whole
year against grazing, are approx
mately so per cent better, and prob
ably 200 per cent better than ranges
which has not been protected at all.
This means that ranges can De mn
proved faster in use than they can
be in idleness and the principle is be-
ing adopted in many of the forests.
He also spoke of the new open sys-
tenn of handling sheep, which is sim
ply quieter herding during the day
and bedding the sheep where night
Eoyer takes them. He contrasts this
with the old plan of herding sheep
close by the use of dogs and return
ling them each night to a fixed bed
ground. The old plan, of course, rem
! dered certain areas absolutely bare
and the going from and returning to
the bed grounds tramnled great
deal of forage. He estimates that an
increase of 10 to 25 per cent has been
added to the carrying capacity of the
ranges and that pounds weight has
been added per lamb, because they
have not been harassed by herdtng
or forced to trail long distances to
and from bed grounds. On 5000, 600
lamps this means 25,O00,000 pounds
added to the sheepman's salable pro-
duct, and to the country's meat sup
ply.
He gave an amusing instance of q
/ government experiment in which 1T
! was attempted to try out the old
! alongside of the new system, but It
4 was found impossible to secure
sheen owner who would return to the
/ old method, except through bonus.
The change in handling has been in
large part responsible for the build
( ing up of the Madison forest. which
there enabled an increase in the num-
| Der of sheep grazed from 10000 to
I l07, 600. with promises of further in
! creases of several thousand.
I One objection to the new method
of handling sheep brought up by
4 many oyVneI-s has been that the herd