FORAGE PLANTS "25 
tive power, and partly by the fact that grazing animals 
select the best plants, thus exterminating the valuable 
species, whose place is taken by the unpalatable or worth- 
less weeds. Range that has been grazed beyond its ability 
to recuperate is said to be overgrazed, and when the num- 
ber of stock on a given area is too great, the range is said 
to be overstocked. The amount of stock which the range 
will carry depends upon the kind and amount of vegeta- 
tion, the fertility of the soil, the rainfall, and various 
other conditions. The carrying capacity can be told 
only by experience. A range must be exceptionally good 
to average for a season one cow to every 5 acres, and such 
ranges would be found only in the less arid portion of the 
Great Plains where the grass is abundant. 
Overgrazing may be the result of necessity. The 
ranchman having in his possession a certain amount of 
stock may be confronted with an unfavorable season or a 
diminished range. As the free range decreases owing to 
the use of the land for general farming, or is bought up 
and fenced in by the ranchmen for self-protection, the 
tendency to overstock becomes greater. Too often under 
these conditions, the stockman is confronted with the 
necessity of providing feed for the stock he has, without 
regard to the ultimate welfare of the range. 
22. Rejuvenating worn-out ranges.—As vast regions 
have been made temporarily unfit for grazing by the 
attempt to carry on the range for successive seasons more 
stock than it would bear, there has been an increasing 
pressure for methods that would quickly rejuvenate these 
areas. It has been thought that the seeds of grasses or 
other plants that are as well or better adapted to the 
conditions than was the preceding vegetation might be 
sown on the range to advantage. Many experiments have 
