524 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Service will contribute toward the cost of the work by furnishing 

 the biiihlin^s and pastures necessary for the prosecution of the 

 study, and by paying the salary and expenses of one investigator. 



FORAGE AND RANGE INVESTIGATIONS. 



Further material progress in grazing administration now awaits 

 fuller Imowledge of range conditions. As the open range grows 

 less the importance to the country of increased output from the na- 

 tional forest stock industry rises. Although the present money 

 value of the forage utilized annually is very great, there is urgent 

 economic need both for its more perfect utilization and for its aug- 

 mentation. Neither can be effected without careful technical obser- 

 vations and exact scientific data. A close study must be made of 

 the character and condition of all forest lands and their products; 

 the character and extent of the damage to tree growths and water- 

 sheds which is caused by the presence of live stock within the forests, 

 and the means of minimizing or preventing such damage; the extent 

 to which forage resources are wasted or destroyed by present methods 

 of utilization, and the ways in which the waste or damage may be 

 reduced; the distribution and economic importance of all of the 

 herbaceous plants occurring Avithin the forests ; the means of promot- 

 ing the growth of economically valuable plants upon denuded areas, 

 by natural or artificial methods of reseeding; and new methods of 

 handling stock by which the highest degree of beneficial use will be 

 obtained. 



The most important feature of the range investigative work at 

 the present time is the completion of a general reconnoissance cov- 

 ering all grazing lands in the forests. This has for its object a kind 

 of stock taking of the range resource as it now exists. Careful 

 data are thus gathered concerning forage conditions and the various 

 factors which govern production. During the year detailed recon- 

 noissances were inaugurated upon the Manti and Minam Forests, 

 and those initiated during the preceding year on the Coconino, 

 Medicine Bow, and Targhee Forests were continued. The recon- 

 noissance of the Deerlodge Forest was temporarily suspended during 

 the last half of the year. 



Several studies are under way to determine the amount and 

 severity of the damage to forest reproduction caused by the grazing 

 of different kinds of stock, the time and character of the injury, and 

 its effect upon tree growth. Thus far the studies have been confined 

 to the yellow pine type, but at the close of the year preparations were 

 being made to extend them to the aspen and other types. The object 

 of the studies is to collect authentic information upon which to base 

 definite plans of management of stock grazing in different types of 

 forest. The studies on the Coconino and Shasta Forests were con- 

 tinued, and new studies were initiated on the Malheur and Payette 

 Forests. A general study of the effect of grazing upon erosion, 

 stream flow, and purity of water supply was initiated just prior to 

 the end of the year. 



The study of the distribution, life history, and economic impor- 

 tance of the herbaceous plants. growing within the national forests 

 is increasing in importance. Over 4,000 specimens Avere collected 

 and identified during the year, and economic notes for each species 



