TENTH ANNUAL REPORT. 197 



has seen fires that would carry brands and set fire to the grass a 

 mile in advance of the main fire. On one occasion he was forced 

 to call upon the troops at Fort Sill for aid, and with their help 

 and the help of the persons living in the vicinity the fire was 

 finally subdued. Unless extreme precautions are taken a fire 

 could — under conditions — sweep the range from one end to the 

 other. 



Wherever it is possible to work a plough a wide fire guard 

 should be thrown up all around the range, both inside and out. 

 In places too rough or rocky to work a plough the grass must 

 be burnt ofi: frequently. On the outside of the range, also, a 

 wide stretch of land should frequently be burned. It might be 

 advisable to plough fire guards at intervals through the centre of 

 the range. Under the head of " Labor, etc.," will be found some 

 suggestions on requiring the inhabitants and homesteaders living 

 on or just outside of the range to fight fire. 



Mr. Morrissey's method of successfully fighting prairie fires 

 has been by means of " back fires " and the use of wet gunny sacks. 

 Large quantities of these sacks should be kept on hand. The care- 

 takers who watch for fires should live at opposite ends of the 

 range, and they should have some means of communication. By 

 far the best system is the telephone, the wire of which could 

 easily run over the fence posts and through the timber. 



CLIMATE. 



Inquiries among the old settlers of the region established the 

 fact that, with the exception of last winter, the winters nowa- 

 days are milder than they were during the days when buffalo 

 roamed over the range. Last winter was the severest winter the 

 country has experienced in twenty years. It was particularly hard 

 on cattle. A thick sleet over a fall of snow prevented stock from 

 grazing, and many animals died in consequence. In anticipation 

 of a winter of this kind it seems advisable to lay in a stock of 

 wild hay, which can be cut inside the range, or just beyond its 

 bounds. Grass cut in July will spring up again, and by September 

 is good winter grazing. For the first winter at least the buffalo 

 should be fed on harvested hay in addition to the food they can 

 secure by grazing. 



Mr. W. H. Ouinette, of Fort Sill, can remember when ice 

 fourteen inches thick was harvested in the vicinity. During re- 

 cent years it has seldom frozen more than from four to six inches. 

 Mr. Morrissey reports ice on Cache Creek, close to his house, eight 



