Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1928-07-12
TREASURE STATE FARM AND LIVESTOCK
LARGE INCOME DEPENDS
ON CONDITION OF RANGE

from land under the pillow so. through
the efforts of the United States forest
service, federal and state experiment sta
lions and other agencies means are being
devised for increasing the number O I
pounds OF beef, wool and lamb per acre
produced on the non-cultivated areas.
says this authority. To study the work
that is being done in sections of Mon
tana and TO find out the principles Of
range management that have been de-
veloped. county agents and
representatives of the Montana Extension
service last month, accompanied forest
officials n grazing specialists OF the
United States department Of agriculture
on a tour OF important grazing areas In
northern and central Montana,
Two trips were made, each of two days
duration; n for the northern counties
which included visits to the eastern END
of the Jefferson national forest and graz
ing areas in southern Phillips county,
and the other for the central counties in
which the grazing areas etween Great
Falls and White Sulphur Springs were
visited. Forest officials who took part in
these trips included Glen Smith, assist
ant district forester, and Tom Lomanson,
grazing specialist, OF the United States
forest service; w. B. Wiley, supervisor
and Arthur Brown. assistant supervisor
" LA4C tAOAb " ~.
Taylor, director. Fred Bennion, county
agent leader. and R. l.. Waddell. livestock
specialist. represented the state extension
service. County agents from Daniels,
Sheridan. Roosevelt, Valley, Blaine, hill
lips, Hill, Cascade, Chouteau, Teton,
Pondera, Judith Basin and Lewis and
Clark counties went on the tours. T.. j.
Sarvis Of the Great Plains experiment
station at Mandan and E.. b. Duncan and
Lhuas ., Il0l
agents of the Great Northern and Mil
waukee railroads also took part.
The trips were arranged by the Mon
tai service as a part of the
work OF outlining definite range man
agement projects in the program of
range improvement on farms n ranches
of the state. The forest service and the
range experiment station at Mandan
have done the greatest amount of work
on this subject and their findings and
recommendations will be used as the
basis for the work Of the Extension serv-
ice.
Essentially, any program Of range i'm
provement, whether on a large or small
scale, u depend upon a control OF
grazing, says MIR. Waddell. Over-stocking
and over-grazing OF range Ian can re-
suit only in deterioration, he states.
Sheep or cattle, naturally, first eat the
most palatable grasses, leaving the less
tasty ones till last. Some which dc not
meet their fancy are never touched.
When land is over-grazed the most de-
sirable grasses disappear first and the
unpalatable nes increase and a contin-
uation of over-grazing gradually denudes
the range OF the most desirable species
of plants. Grazing systems must be de-
vised which will keep stock from the
ranges until plants nave had a chance to
get a good growth in the spring. and
there must be a balance between the
amour of feed available and the num-
Der of head of stock turned out. A rec
ognition of the various desirable n un-
desirable plants. means of determining
carrying capacity and an understanding
of growth and other characteristics of
range plants are essential to proper
range management, says the livestock
specialist.