IMPROVEMENT IN RANGE CONDITIONS 



115 



Many Denuded Slopes Occur in the Jeffrey Pine Type, in the Central Sierra Nevadas. 



Hayden Forest on the experiment 

 started there in 1910 with one acre 

 absolutely protected yearlong against 

 grazing, 19 acres protected until after 

 seed maturity and then grazed, and 

 outside range unprotected, shows that 

 the vegetation on the 19-acre tract 

 grazed each fall is approximately 

 50 per cent better than the totally 

 protected area and probably 200 per 

 cent better than the range without 

 protection. This means that the ranges 

 can be improved faster in use than they 

 can be in idleness. This principle is 

 being rapidly adopted on many of the 

 other Forests and is securing excellent 

 results. In my estimation this system 

 offers great encouragement in range 

 improvement, for the reason that there 

 is almost no waste of forage and con- 

 sequently the stockmen suffer no loss 

 in adopting it. It gives better results 

 than total exclusion of the stock and it 

 prevents the accumulation of coarse, 

 unusable forage, and other inflamable 

 material which is a menace to the 

 Forests. This principle can be worked 

 into the management of every piece of 

 range on National Forests and will be 

 fundamental as long as we have range 

 management. 



THE NEW OPEN SYSTEM OF HANDLING 

 SHEEP 



Our experimental work in methods of 

 handling stock has been confined mainly 



to sheep. Byfar the most important 

 phase of this work has been the develop- 

 ment and practical application of what 

 is known as the "Blanket system," 

 "Bedding out system," or "New 

 method" of handling sheep, which is 

 simply open, quiet herding during the 

 day and bedding the sheep where night 

 overtakes them. We started a vigorous 

 campaign for the adoption of this 

 change in the handling of sheep in 

 1909, based largely upon the result of 

 the Coyote-proof pasture experiments in 

 the Wallowa National Forest, Oregon. 

 At that time this method of necessity 

 was largely employed in the Southwest 

 and elsewhere by a few of the most 

 successful sheep companies — such as 

 Woods Livestock Company. Aside from 

 these cases, most of the sheep were 

 handled under a system of returning to 

 the same bed ground as many times as 

 the Forest Service would allow, which 

 in a great many instances was more than 

 the six nights provided by the Regu- 

 lations. 



At the present time there are a 

 number of Forests where almost without 

 exception the sheep are never returned 

 to one bed ground more than one or 

 two nights, and on nearly all the grazing 

 Forests, at least a part of the sheepmen 

 have been persuaded to adopt this 

 method, and the result invariably is an 

 average increase of about 5 pounds in 

 the weight of the lambs, and I should 



