CONDITION AND PLANTS OF THE EANGE. 15 



and the open-range question is here practically a thing of the past. The 

 greater part of this area is still unfeneed, and the boundaries of the 

 different possessions are only approximately maintained, but much of 

 the land is being fenced, section by section, which permits systematic 

 pasturing. This change has yielded results far beyond the expecta- 

 tions of the ranchers. 



In one case which came under observation it was estimated by a 

 rancher that the land under his control had increased in grazing capac- 

 ity about 50 per cent during the past two years, with no decrease in 

 the number of cattle carried on the entire area. One section is pas- 

 tured at a time, and grass is allowed to attain considerable growth 

 before being pastured, instead of being grazed close to the ground all 

 the time. 



In another instance in the same vicinity a year's rest of two and a 

 half sections of pasture land had yielded marvelous results. This 

 land had formerly been grazed by sheep, and the pasture had become 

 so short that the owner disposed of it* to the present occupant, who 

 proposed to embark in the cattle business. He allowed his land to 

 rest one year with practically no stock upon it; the gain in feed was 

 remarkable. 



Much of this land is used as winter ranges for sheep, which are 

 either herded during the summer months in the mountains to the west- 

 ward or pastured on the fallow lands in the wheat-growing regions to 

 the east. This treatment will probably increase the capacity of these 

 ranges to a maximum in a few years, provided the summer season of 

 rest is sufficiently prolonged. It is very important in handling these 

 lands as winter pastures not to keep stock on them too late in the 

 spring. In this region the growth of vegetation occurs only in the 

 spring, and stock are sometimes unable, on account of snow, to get 

 into the mountains soon enough to allow much recuperation after the 

 season of grazing before the advent of the dry season, which begins 

 not later than June. 



CONDITION AND PLANTS OF THE RANGE. 



The best range seen on the entire trip, and indeed the best open 

 range the writer has seen since the early nineties (with the possible 

 exception of the Clear Creek region in the Big Horn Mountains of 

 Wyoming in 1898), was that of the Okanogan hills in northern AVash- 

 ington. The generally good condition of the feed in this region is due 

 to the fact that the country for various reasons has not been over- 

 stocked. A large part of this area is occupied hy the Colville Indian 

 Reservation, and some of the lands along the river are taken up by 

 Indian allotments which have not been improved to their full capacity 

 for hay production. The length of the winters, the heavy snowfall. 



