The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1924-02-02
EXPANSION OF
STOCK RAISING
is ADVOCATED
Prof. Sheppard Of Agricul-
tnral College Outlines
Possibilities

FARGO, Feb. q "Thc native prairie
p,..S - OF this state cover an area
larger than the state Of New Jersey,
and if well managed, might produce
Untold wealth in beef, mutton, wool.
milk or horse flesh if those in con
troll and operation OF the North Da-
kota prairie lands would choose TO
have it do So" is the statement OF
Professor j. II. Shepherd, animal
Acknowledgment at the North Dakota
Agricultural college and experiment
station.
There is room for many thousand
more head of livestock on the prairies
Of this state, according to Mr.. Shep-
pcrd. "If the Coulter loan bill passes
the number of livestock in the state
will be greatly ncreased,' he states.
"Few people realize the value OF
grass and other forage plants and
few know how sadly these humble
wealth producers of the prairie are
abused and handicapped in their
work Of production he added. John
Sarvis, the cowboy botanist and
scientific investigator at Mandan,
Who Experiments in grazing trials at
Che Great Plains station, has learned
.hat by process of resting and ro-
Eating native pastures they Will
stand more grazing and yield more
food tosthe livestock"
These experiments show, accord
ng to Mr.. Shepherd, that under
system of rotation of native pas
lures, four and one-fifth acres will
stand rs much grazing as seven
turned in and left to Craze and tram
pie it for the whole season.
Grass grazed short is continu-
ously handicapped said Professor
Shepherd, while grass allowed to
grow at the season when it gathers
The strength to sustain itself, occu-
pies the land, furnishes the maximum
grazing and retainssits vitality and
The control of the soil.
"That is what call literally max
ng two blades of grass grow where
one grew before. Then too, the sys-
tenn Of management which he carries
on does not lower the carrying capa-
city Of the pas ture, despite the heavy
lead it carries. The sllvery sage,
which is the distress signal in over
grazed pastures, is absent from the
deferred and rotation fields. while it
waves its branches in mute protest
in the pastures where too many cat
tie are run continuously from spring
to fall.
Deferred and rotated grazing has
ben tried and repeated for nearly
eight years so there is no guess work
about it. Bulletin No. ITO, recently
issued by the United States Depart
ment Of Agriculture upsets the old
timers dope" too, about the big
gains Of the season occurring after
the grass has begun to cure in Sep
TENDER and OctoDer. Here is what
the scale beam shows in pounds of
daily gain per each two years old
steer. In June they gained three and
three-fifths pounds in July they gain
ed two pounds, In August one and
two-thirds pounds, in September one
and one third and in October no gain
at all.
'.Land that is being paStured heav-
lily needs its rest periods just as
does land that is being cropped. The
experiments at Mandan show that
cattle are able to produce higher
gains per head when they are pas
tLre on land that is being rotated"
The scheme of the experiments at
Mandan, according to Mr.. Shepherd,
was to provide several pastures so
that the cattle did not feed entirely
off any one pasture. This allowed the
vegetation chance to secure fresh
start.