404 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



can be lar<::cly increased by improved methods of liandlino: stock, 

 and that the' increasetl cost of such methods, if any, is offset by 

 increases in number and weight of himl)s raised, heavier wool crops, 

 and reduced losses from predatory animals. 



During the spring of 1910 a series of experiments to determine the 

 feasibility of lambing sheep in small inclosures was initiated upon the 

 Cochetopa Forest, in Colorado. The areas upon which slieep may be 

 successfully lambed are limited in number and in great demand, and 

 under existing methods lambing on the range is unusually injurious 

 to the area used, losses are large, and the operation is expensive. 

 The primary object of the experiment is to fmd a metliod by which 

 sheep may be lambed upon small areas with a maximum percentage 

 of increase, a minimum cost, and a minimum of damage to the Forest 

 Jands. The construction of the inclosures was scarcely completed 

 at the close of the fiscal year, and the observations were limited; 

 but the experiment will be continued until definite results are secured. 

 This work is being watched with strong interest by the sheepmen, for 

 a successful solution of the problem will be of inestimable value to 

 the woolgrowers who have to depend upon the National Forests for 

 their spring and fall ranges. As the inclosures used by one permittee 

 will seldom aggregate 160 acres, there will be no administrative 

 objection to at widespread application of the principle if it proves 

 successful. 



In connection with the pasturage and lambing experiments, a 

 number of observations were made at pastures owned and operated 

 by private persons, and data of considerabls value were secured. 



' The logical extension of the pasturage experiment will be its appli- 

 cation to spring and fall or yearlong ranges upon some of the southern 

 National Forests where the use of Forest land for grazing purposes 

 extends over longer periods. It is hoped that a study of this char- 

 acter may be inaugurated, but this may prove impossible unless addi- 

 tional men of technical training can be secured to make the necessary 

 observations. 



An experimental test of the use of goats as a means of preventing 

 the accumulation of inflammable material upon fire lines and as a 

 means of opening up areas densely covered with brush as a preliminary 

 to reseeding operations was conducted during the year on the Lassen 

 National Forest, in the State of California. The result of this test, 

 Wilde not wholly satisfactory, has been fair and warrants tlie continu- 

 an( e of the experiment. A number of small ]>atches of brush have 

 been killed out, and it has been determined that certain species of 

 brush may be readily suppressed or killed by goats. The only serious 

 drawback'^ encountered is that after the ground feed has been con- 

 sumed the goats do not thrive as well upon an exclusive diet of brush 

 as they do upon the mixed feed afforded by more open grazing lands. 

 The experiment will be continued until "definite results have been 

 secured. 



GAME PRESERVES 



The Wicliita and Grand Canyon National Game Preserves are both 

 located within National Forests, and as in previous years were under 

 the administration of the Forest Service. By proper restriction of 

 grazing, by the extermination of predaceous animals destructive to 



