^YO ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1960 



production of weeds. It seemed evident that when a remnant of vege- 

 tation remained at the close of drought, restoration of cover was 

 extremely rapid and the yield for some time after restoration even 

 exceeded that on the better pastures where the cover suffered less dur- 

 ing drought. Possibly this result was due in part at least to a more 

 vigorous new cover on a soil that had rested for a few years. 



In 1946 a well-managed pasture at Ness City, Kans., yielded 1,800 

 pounds per acre but a nearby heavily grazed area produced only half 

 this amount (pi. 4). Five areas near Colly er, Kans., were studied 

 during the summer of 1946 (Tomanek, 1948). These ranges differed 

 mainly in the intensity of utilization during 15 years preceding the 

 period of study. The ungrazed pasture produced approximately 

 2,500 pounds per acre as compared to 4,000 pounds on a well-managed 

 range and only 1,800 pounds on a heavily grazed area. These data 

 indicate that heavy utilization reduces the yield by 50 percent and 

 that grazing too lightly also decreases production. 



A 5-year study on a short-grass pasture near Hays was initiated in 

 1942 to simulate different intensities of grazing by clipping at dif- 

 ferent heights and at different intervals. It was discovered in this 

 study that approximately 50 percent of the grass could be left on 

 the area and in 5 years the amount removed from these locations nearly 

 equaled total production on the areas where all growth was harvested. 

 Root development under these treatments also was significantly dif- 

 ferent. Roots under nonuse and moderate use were nearly the same, 

 but under heavy clipping the roots were not only finer and less in 

 number per unit area but also their depth of penetration into the soil 

 was significantly less. 



Life histories of important grasses of the Great Plains have been 

 studied in order to know the best sources of grass seed for reseeding 

 cultivated land (Riegel, 1941 ; Webb, 1941 ; Hopkins, 1941) . It seemed 

 wise to revegetate some 500 acres of cultivated land on the college 

 farm, and while doing this, basic studies have been made on methods 

 of seedbed preparation, methods of seeding, rate of growth, and yield 

 (Riegel, 1940). 



In order to manage our rangeland properly, it seemed desirable to 

 have more information on the time of the season when growth oc- 

 curred. It was surprising to some to find that as much as 70 percent 

 of the total growth in one season occurred before July. 



Numerous studies indicate that cattle, for example, enjoy variety in 

 their range diet just as human beings prefer variety in theirs. A 

 closely cropped pasture of nearly pure buffalo grass is entirely too 

 monotonous in appearance and in palatability to be of greatest value 

 in beef production. Overutilization has been found to decrease the 

 number of desirable species in a native range. 



