178 



ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Early in April, owing to the need to increase the national food sup- 

 ply, instructions were issued to every supervisor to increase the num- 

 ber of stock already authorized by the Secretary for the season of 

 1917 wherever this was possible without serious danger of over-graz- 

 ing and over-stocking the range. The supervisors were advised also 

 that in every instance where the conditions made it advisable the 

 ranges should be open for the admission of stock at earlier dates than 

 (hose established. Under these conditions several hundred thousand 

 additional sheep and cattle were admitted to the Forests. 



While the higher ranges in all the National Forests were not avail- 

 able for the stock for from four to six weeks later than usual on 

 account of deep snows, nevertheless after the snow had disappeared 

 the forage conditions were never better, and on June 30, 1917, the 

 National Forest ranges were almost universally in excellent condition 

 and stock of all kinds doing well. 



PERMITS. 



The number of grazing permits issued and the stock covered by 

 these permits are shown in Table 9: 



Table 9. — Orazing permits issued and number of stock grazed under permit, 



fiscal year 1917. 



Table 9 shows an 11 per cent increase in the number of cattle, but 

 a 3 per cent decrease in the number of sheep. In reality the number 

 of sheep on the Forests for the 1917 grazing season was probably 

 greater than for the 1916 season by more than 200,000. The figures 

 fail to show this because many of the fees for sheep grazed in the 



