The border vidette., 1914-11-21
WATER ON GRAZING LAND.
Interesting Article in the Farmera'
 Bulletin No. 692.

How range which ordinarily
 can not be grazed because of in
 adequate water facilities can be
 opened up for stock, is told by
 the department of agriculture in
 Farmers Bulletin 592 on the de-
 velopment and improvement of
 stock watering places upon na- tiOnal forests.
 No stock range can be said to
 be properly utilized, the depart
 ment ayers, if there is an uneven
 diStribu tiOn of water On some areas the water supply is not sufficient for the number of stock the forage will support. On others the water supply is sufficient, but is not permanent,
 making it necessary to remove the animals before the season is over. Still other areas are made practically worthless for stock purposes by the absence of water except at rare intervals during winter.
 Range cattle need from 8 to 10 gallons of water a day, says the department, and sheep from } to 3 gallons, unless there is heavy dew and an abundance of Succulent feed. No matter 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 two miles to reach water, if they are to be in marketa ble condition in the fall.
 The flow from ordinary springs, and even from SeepS, can be in creased by digging them out and curbing the sides with ce- ment, the water being carried in pipes to conveniently situated troughs. Swampy spots can often be made to furnish a water supply by cutting an open chan nel from some spring in the middle of them, perhaps cutting other channels across the main one, and drawing the spring and surface water to some storage point outside. Streams flowing through deep canyons may be made accessible to stock by con structing trails over which the animals can reach them, or by raising the water to the surface of the canyon by mechanical means.
 When natural water supply is some distance from the range, small dirt flood water reservoirs can be constructed almost any where to supplement the natural supply. If a low place with a heavy adobe or clay soil is selected in the middle of some open park with sloping hills about it, comparatively 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. Burrows running diagon- ally across the slopes will collect the rainfall or melting snow waters and carry them directly to the reservoir for storage. Artificial reservoirs permit the stock to be scattered out over d larger area than ordinarily, and remove the need for them to con- centrate at permanent watering places.
 Where the natural water SUD- ply is more than 50 feet below the surface of the ground the best way to reach it, says this department, is by drilling or boring we'll and raising the water by means of a windmill or pump. A deep we'll of from 15O to 300 feet, such as is common in the Texas Panhandle region, complete with windmill, truck troughs, etc., represents an in vestment of about 1000, and easily supply between $50 and 500 cattle daily. No well is complete, claims the de- partment, without a reservoir with a capacity large enough to carry the stock dependent up on it over long calm spell. The cost of a reservoir holding ap- 100000 gallons of water should not exceed $1OO.
 The best kind of trough for water derived from wells and springs, thinks the is the ordinary metal one used by stockmen. It is light in weight, will last a long time, and costs little. How ever, where the materials are