JOM£ OF AGMCETURAL RESEARCH 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Vol. Ill Washington, D. C, November i6, 1914 No. 2 



NATURAL REVEGETATION OF RANGE LANDS BASED 

 UPON GROWTH REQUIREMENTS AND LIFE HISTORY 

 OF THE VEGETATION 



■ By Arthur W. S.\mpson, 

 Plant Ecologist, Forest Service 



INTRODUCTION 



Ideal range management would mean the utilization of the forage crop 

 in a way to maintain the lands at their highest state of productiveness 

 and at the same time afford the greatest possible returns to the stock 

 industry. To maintain the maximum productivity, the annual herbage 

 crop must be used in a manner which will not retard the growth or pre- 

 vent the perpetuation of the most desirable forage species. On the other 

 hand, if the stock industry is to receive the greatest possible returns at 

 all times, the annual forage crop should be used when it is most needed 

 and when the herbage is palatable and nutritious. 



It is obvious from this that the requirements of the vegetation and the 

 requirements of the stock are to a great extent antagonistic. Hence, un- 

 restricted grazing, without regard for the vegetation or the locality, 

 eventually results in decreased productivity, and often in denudation. 



The decline in carr3dng capacity of our western grazing lands was 

 brought about in part by injury due to trampling, but perhaps in greater 

 part by premature grazing and overstocking. The growing herbage might 

 be called a laboratory where plant nutrients are prepared, and the 

 repeated removal of the foliage year after year during the fore part of the 

 growing season means the destruction of this laboratory, which in turn 

 means lack of nourishment for the vegetation, resulting in lowered vitality 

 and an inability to produce seed. 



The easiest way to overcome the deteriorating effect of premature 

 grazing and overstocking, as well as of trampling, would be, of course, to 

 eliminate grazing entirely. Obviously, however, such a procedure would 

 be impracticable from the standpoint of the stock industry. Since this 

 is so, the best means of solving the problem in a scientific manner is to 



Journal of Aericultural Research, Vol. Ill, No. 3 



Dept of Agriailturc. Washington. D. C. Nov. i6, 1914 



F-3 

 (93) 



