INSTRUCTION IN RAXGE MANAGEMENT 535 



The course on "Native Range Plants" should have made clear to the 

 student what the forage preferences of the different classes of stock 

 are; that goats do well on dense brush areas because browse feed is 

 more palatable to this class of stock than to cattle, horses, and sheep. 



The relation of class of stock to topography, climate, and elevation 

 should include (i) the ease with which the different classes of stock 

 climb, (2) the relative losses of the different live-stock classes due to 

 sliding in localities where the slopes become icy, and (3) the diseases 

 that are commonly influenced by the factors in question. 



In considering the water facilities as related to the class of stock, the 

 discussion should cover ( i ) the distance the different foraging animals 

 can travel to water with good results both to stock and range at differ- 

 ent times in the year, (2) the length of time stock can go without water 

 at different seasons and on different classes or types of feed, and (3) 

 the possibilities and cost of water development. 



2. Premature grazing, too close cropping year after year, and too 

 long a grazing season are the most common means of range abuse. The 

 physiological effect of premature and too heavy grazing on the vegeta- 

 tion should be brought out in a fundamental way in much detail. The 

 carrying capacity and "forage-acre'' requirements of the dift'erent 

 classes of stock on the broader forage types should be discussed in full. 

 The conditions under which it is necessary in practice to crop the forage 

 earlier or later than is desired from the viewpoint of the w^elfare of the 

 range alone, as well as by the class of stock evidently not best suited 

 to a given type, should be fully recognized. 



3. The practicability of restoring the productivity of depleted ranges 

 by natural and artificial reseeding has been amply demonstrated by the 

 Forest Service. The fundamentals of revegetation should be preceded 

 by a review of the condition of the Forest ranges w^hen the National 

 Forests were created, the present condition of the remaining public 

 domain, and the factors that contributed to these conditions. The basic 

 principles underlying the successful application of the deferred and 

 rotation grazing system and the application of these researches to the 

 dift'erent localities and to the various methods of handling stock should 

 be brought out in detail. Special consideration should be given to the 

 plants (and more especially to the genera embracing the important 

 species) which may be used as indicators of range depletion as well as 

 improvement in the forage crop.* 



' Recent researches have brought out the fact that on badly managed ranges 

 plant succession may be retrogressive. This phenomenon is clearly indicated by 

 the establishment and rapid increase of a temporary type of vegetation. 



