The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1914-01-20

'--~ md states
But he goes still furrn>
that the systematic use OF tl.S
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 sttcekmen hare been able to sell
beef and mutton q direct from the
ranges where they wee before pro-
ducing only animals which ha6 TO be
fed and conditioned before they could
be put on the market.
He called attention to the expert
ments of the Government in artifici-
ally re-secdiDg the grazing areas to
cultivated grasses, and showed that
in some cases the forage crop has
been increased as much as 400 per
cent. He maintained, however, that
this method is both slow and expen-
sive and said that the great part of
the range lands must be improved by
protection and natural re-seeding, for
the next 20 years at least. He says,
too, that Investigations have estab-
lished beyond a doubt that natural
reseeding can be accomplished best
ed upon the simple principle that
grazing aids In scattering and plant
ing the seed after the seed has been
given an opportunity to mature. Re-
ports show that areas protected I'M
It'll after seed maturity and then graz
ed, as compared with areas absolutely
protected for the whole year against
grazing, are approximately so per
cent. better, and probably 200 per
cent. better than range which has not
been protected at all. This means
that ranges can be improved faster in
use than they can be in idleness and
the principle is being adopted on
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
overtakes them. He contrasts this
! with the old plan of herding sheep
close by the use Of dogs and return
ing 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 trampled great deal
] OF forage, He estimates that an in.
crease of 10 to 20 per cent. has been
added to the carrying capacity of the
ranges and that pounds weight has
been added per farnb. because they
have not been haiAssed by herding OF
forced to trail hong distances to and
from bed grounds. On 5000, 900 lambs
this means 25,O00,OO0 pounds added
to the sheepmen's salable product
ana to the country's meat supply.
He gave an amusing instance Of &
government experiment in which il
was attempted to try out the oil
< alongside OF the new system, but
i was found impossible to secure :
Il sheep owner who would return to tn,
old method, except through a bonus
The change in handling has been il
. large part responsible for the build
{ ing up of the Madison forest, whicl
there enabled an increase in the nun
Der of sheep grazed from 10000 t.
100000, with promises of further in
creases of several thousand.
One objection to the new method @
handling sheep brought up by man
: owners has been that the herders VIII
were used to the close system woul
not adopt the new one. The assoc
ate forester says that herderS ma
urally take a pride in having thei
sheep look we'll and that since the
are coming to realize that open here
ing means better sheep, they volur
tarily adopt it.
In conclusion, Mr.. Potter mentione
other studies and experiments whic
l the forest service is undertaking
help stock growers secure a bette
! utilization of the forest resources an
said that the success secured In tn
work has been due largely to tn
hearty cooperation of the stockmel
A still for making gasoline at HON
is offered by an English company as
partial solution of the problem
supplying automobile fuel at mode
ate cost. This apparatus is elaine
to yield three and a half gallons {
fuel in two houdrs from four gallon
!. of crude oil, the oil being heate
over gas or oil burner and the vapo
condensed in coils surrounded by col
water The still, of course, is care
fully constructed to avoid accident
in common use.