2(5 



ill regard to the time of maturity of the crop from TV^liich tlie silage ia 

 to be made. It will also liave to be. determined wlietlier the legumi- 

 nous forage crops, such as alfalfa, soy beans, and cowpeas, can be put up 

 in the same manner or whether they can be added in alternate layers in 

 the stack, as is often done in the manufocture of silage in air-tight 

 silos. The principal caution in putting up such stacks will be to see 

 that no large cavities are left in the material, for wherever too much air 

 has access the fermentation is liable to be carried to the putrefactive 

 stage, following which molds will grow and render it very injurious, if 

 not actually poisonous. These precautions are less necessary in the 

 case of Johnson grass or broadcast sorghum, because the mass will be 

 much more compact. 



HAY. 



In addition to putting up considerable quantities of stack silage, it 

 is advisable that cattle owners provide hay, if a suj^ply can be secured 

 irom natural or artificial meadows on the ranch. Very often stockmen 

 who have not made this provision have to buy feed during winter, 

 especially during the heavy snowstorms in the spring before the new 

 grass has started and after the prairie grasses have either all been 

 eaten off or have been rotted by rains or melting snows. In such cases 

 hay often sells from $10 to $20 per ton and is hard to get in time to pre- 

 vent losses. Prairie hay can be put up at the cost of usually not more 

 than $1 to $2 per ton, using modern machinery and appliances. With 

 the large number of kinds of hay grasses to choose from, any rancher 

 who has fairly good laud has no excuse for not putting up enough hay 

 to carry his stock at least through the severer storms of the winter. 



WATER. 



Another precaution that must be taken, if the stock ranges are to be 

 restored to anything like their former value, is that water must be pro- 

 vided in .sufficient amount so that cattle will not have to travel long 

 distances for it in times of severe drought. Nearly the entire western 

 portion of Texas is underlaid by artesian waters ranging from 150 to 

 1,500 feet below the surface. Wherever the drainage slopes are not 

 too precipitous, artificial tanks may be formed across the draws by 

 building dams, and if the bottom of the tank is carried down to hard- 

 pan, or is puddled before being filled, a supply sullicient to last through 

 the dry season may be secured at small expense. Such tanks, or wells, 

 either artesian, or where the water is lifted by windmill ]tumps, should 

 be provided at least every 4 miles over the range, so that cattle will 

 never have to travel more than a couple of miles to water. Where the 

 wells, water holes, or tanks are 8, 10, or more miles apart, as they very 

 frequently are on some of the western ranges, cattle greatly overstock 

 tlie range in the vicinity of the water, especially during midsummer, 

 while tlie back country is thickly covered with jiood feed. Thus a 



