10 A PROTECTED STOCK RANGE IN ARIZONA. 



reaches a point where it is too light to support the perennial grasses. 

 However, a few miles to the northeast of the field there is an area of 

 lower ground where hay has frequently been cut, but this is due to 

 the spread and accumulation of flood waters over the surface. It is 

 more than probable that the rainfall where the gauge is located is 

 from H times to twice that in the lower (northern) portion of the 

 field, which represents more closely the conditions obtaining around 

 Tucson. Besides, the distribution of rainfall is much better in the 

 upper portion of the inclosure, more frequent rains occurring than in 

 the low altitudes. 



CONDITIONS INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF THE FENCED AREA. 



Upon the north and the west sides of the field there is practically 

 no difference between the inside and the outside of the inclosure. 

 There are two reasons for this. The north and northwest portions 

 are the least productive of the field, and in this neighborhood water 

 is a long way off, so that the stock graze here very little. Indeed, 

 there have been but few cattle in the vicinity of the fence from the 

 private pastures to the northwest corner for two years. (See map, 

 fig. 1.) As a consequence, upon the southwest side a small crop of 

 hay was cut on the outside of the fence last year. 



On the east side, outside of the inclosure, the pasture is very short, 

 having been grazed for years by horses and sheep. The conditions 

 here are most instructive. The year 1908 was a favorable one and, 

 consequently, in spite of the heavy grazing, some of the valuable 

 perennial grama grasses matured seed to a much greater extent 

 than in former years. This illustrates the extreme persistency of 

 these grasses. They may be greatly abused even in this easily 

 eroded and parched region, but when a favorable season occurs they 

 again make their appearance and will, if husbanded for a few years, 

 regain their supremacy. There is no doubt that there was at least 

 ten times as much growth of these valuable perennials in 1908 as 

 there had been for the previous three or four years. On the whole, 

 there was in 1908 a fairly good crop of vegetation on this badly 

 denuded region tributary to Helvetia, but it consisted in largest meas- 

 ure of the six-weeks' grasses, which are the poorest in the region. 



From McCleary's south gate to Helvetia the area next to the gov- 

 ernment fence is now entirely protected by private holdings. (See 

 map, fig. 1.) Although some of these have been only partially pro- 

 tected from the very excessive grazing of the previous years for 

 somewhat less than twelve months, there is a phenomenal difference 

 between them and the outside range. In one instance an inclosure 

 of nine months' duration can be recognized for a distance of six or 

 more miles even though the area has been grazed moderately all the 

 time. 



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