THE FORESTER. 



171 



supply of hay, ro losses were sustained. The 1915 season was favor- 

 able for forage growth, notwithstanding the fact that there was a 

 very light snowfall throughout Wyoming, Utah, and northern Colo- 

 rado. This was supplemented by spring rains, which placed the 

 range in excellent condition. 



PERMITS. 



The number of grazing permits issued and the stock covered by 

 these permits were as follows: 



Grazing permits issued and stock grazed, fiscal year 1915. 



State. 



Arizona 



Arkansas 



California 



Colorado 



Florida 



Georgia 



Idaho 



Kansas 



Minnesota 



Montana 



Nebraska 



Nevada 



New Mexico 



North Carolina. . 

 North Dakota... 



Oklahoma 



Oregon 



South Dakota... 



Tennessee 



Utah 



Virginia 



Washington 



West Virginia... 

 Wyoming 



Total, 1915 



Cattle, horses, and hogs. 



Permits 

 issued. 



,793 



11 



,694 



,352 



25 



56 



,042 



92 



1 



,275 



65 



440 



,800 



83 



12 



51 



,876 



472 



20 



,830 



19 



435 



3 



,194 



25, 641 



Cattle. 



288,875 



123 



176,616 



301, 208 



571 



366 



108, 500 



12,721 



35 



133, 560 



9,753 



74,077 



101,293 



719 



343 



4,272 



108, 777 



11,394 



272 



171,253 



103 



15,977 



7 



106, 506 



1, 627, 321 



Horses. 



7,900 



15 



10,383 



9,124 



7' 



8,976 

 219 



16,405 



828 



5,709 



4,873 



18 



82 



339 



10, 745 



2,109 



12,899 



28 



1,256 



5,018 



96, 933 



Hogs. 



565 

 'i,'644' 



52 



26 



159 



183 

 81 



66 



10 



4 



2,792 



Sheep and goats. 



Permits 

 issued. 



144 



317 



416 



3 



9 



634 



1 



388 



98 



534 



24 



495 



4 

 1,442 



158 



8 



294 



4,969 



Sheep. 



389,657 



390, 926 



629,940 



321 



74 



1,594,726 



300 



730, 507 



454,615 



405, 280 



226 



769, 323 



41 

 919,834 



238,824 



60 



707,622 



7, 232, 276 



Goats. 



4,490 



6,644 

 1,323 



850 

 '37,839 



263 



51,409 



A material increase took place in the number of permittees, par- 

 ticularly small owners. The number of cattle and horse permittees 

 increased 7.9 per cent over 1914, but the number of sheep and goat 

 permittees fell off 4.2 per cent. This was doubtless due largely to a 

 shifting over from one class of stock to the other. The average 

 number of cattle and horses per permit dropped from 68 to 56, and 

 of sheep and goats from 1,469 to 1,465, 



The total number of cattle grazed increased 118,682, while horses 

 decreased 11,308 head, hogs 589 head, and sheep and goats 313,117 

 head. The reduction in number of horses is very significant in con- 

 trast with the increase of 10,322 head the previous year. It can only 

 be accounted for by the demand for horses in foreign countries. The 

 reduction in sheep and goats is undoubtedly due to a general tendency 

 on the part of flockmasters to reduce their bands to the number for 

 which they can provide winter range and feed; to settlement upon 

 lands formerly used for sheep grazing; and to a tendency of the 

 smaller permittees to transfer to the grazing of cattle. 



There were also issued 1,685 free grazing permits, allowing the 

 grazing of 70,637 cattle, 2,163 horses, 664 hogs, 415,932 sheep, and, 

 1,504 goats, in exchange for the use by National Forest permittees 

 of 2,727,808 acres of imfenced private lands within the Forests. 



