Arizona republican., 1914-02-16

in Colorado and other western states. I believe, therefore, it would be well | to omit any mention of a minimum 1 charge. I know this would help out very much the wool growers in Ari- zona.
 | Gentlemen, before I leave this bill, tages to stockmen of leasing and ! fencing over open range grazing, which will result from his bill CD 1 To begin win, sockmen will be able to handle the public range very much like they would their own land. They will know how many animaIs they can feed in advance and how many to carry over. Yearling steers and two year olds can be kept for three handling stock, and the losses under fenced conditions, are less than the open range. (3) During prolonged weak an demaciated animals can be kept nearer supplies of feed and wa ter Likewise, better care can be given to the calf crop. (D On en- closed ranges. the improvement of herds by breeding with high grade animals is practicable. (5) There is 1 no incentive to oVerStock protected ranges, since every man gets all that is coming to him all the time. (6) On protected ranges, it is practicable to carry on a systematic alternate grazing and resting of the plants. This makes reseeding possible under natural conditions, and it is absolute ly necessary for range improvement on a practical scale.
 Quite recently, two other bills look ing toward a solution of the grazing problem on the public lands, have been introduced in congress. One of these, known as the Gronna Bill, pro- vides for leasing of the public graz ing lands in suitable areas for periods of five years. during which time such land shall not be subject to home stead entry for agricultural purposes. After this lease has expired, the land may be homesteaded for limited time by bona fide settlers. Failing in this it is again leased for similar five-year period This bill is danger ous, because it practically prohibits permanent settlement of the land, and this settling of the land is the identical thing that we most of all desire and strive for. l believe that such bill is unwise, and I feel as sured that congress could not be in duced to pass it.
 vrba otbar hill ;c lynoyn Mon. dell Bill This is an attempt at long range to provide in the west grazing homestead of sufficient size to support an ordinary family. The minimum entry for this shall be GAO acres. and the maximum entry 12S0 acres or two sections. The land shall be valuable chiefly for graz1ng and shall not contain commercial timber, nor be susceptible of irrigation from known water supplies. There is little grazing land in teh western and southwestern states that has a stock carrying capacity such. that even four section of it would maintain family in ordinarily comfortable cir cumstances. To make this bill accep- able, the entries must be much lar ger, and the lands should first of all be classified carefully. This could be done best after the lands had been under lease for ten years. as provided for in the Lever grazing bill. Again. in Arizona and New Mexico. it is ont possible to say at this time whether land is susceptible of irriga tion or not from one or more of the proposed irrigation projects. There fore. while this bill has a splendid object in view, it is in advance of the times. and it is not practicable now.
 Now with the Lever bill in mind con- corning what the stockman may do with a piece of grazing range under his control, I invite your attention briefly to some things that have ac- tually been done in a practical way in range improvement in Arizona. Through cooperation with the depart ment of agriculture and the department of the interior, the Arizona agricultural experiment station obtained permission to enclose with fence an area of 50 square miles in diversified grazing country. This land varied in altitude
 
 in rainfall from 12 inches to about 20 inches. The land is typical in a gen. eral way of large areas of the better class of grazing lands in Arizona With the exception of the upper part of it which consists of foothills, it was ex- tremely badly overgraZed. The lower third of it was also badly eroded. It had bopp in, thic condition for. at 1p9 st 15years being grazed by sheep, horses and cattle When the fence was con- structed, there wasn't enough grass anywhere on it to feed a horse, and when I drove the old gray university horse across it to study the grass, had to carry baled alfalfa for my horse. There were occasional closely graZed, half dead punches of perennial grasses scattered here and there over the sur face, and some grass. principally black grama, among the shrubs and cacti. Of course, there was siX-Weeks grass, which never amounts to very much. Altogether, the proposition was a very uninviting one. In fact, after one year we issued a statement warning people not to expect too much from the work.
 With protection, the punches of grass grew up. increased in size, and matured seed This dropped and found it's way in the ground without any assistance, though think that narrowing the sur face would have been a good thing after the first seed crop was matured. The next year. there were anywhere