PREFACE. 



Every author believes that the book which he is plac- 

 ing before the public will "fill a long-felt want," and 

 success or failure depends very much on how closely 

 he has been able to gauge the nature of the "long-felt 

 want." In writing this book, I have had in view the de- 

 mand for some practical work on the grazing side of 

 their profession by the young men who are entering 

 or preparing to enter the Forest Service of the United 

 States. 



The science of forestry is a new one to the most of 

 us, and the conditions here are so very different from 

 those in older countries, where it has been studied for 

 many years, that we are forced to meet and solve many 

 new problems for which there are no precedents or es- 

 tablished rules. Among the most perplexing questions 

 which the student of forestry must cope with here is 

 that of utilizing the area included in the National For- 

 ests so as to get for the people the full value of all its 

 resources. One of the greatest of these resources is 

 the feed and forage which will furnish sustenance for 

 millions of cattle, horses and sheep. Like the "wheel 

 that will not turn with the water that has passed," this 

 feed must be used as it grows each season or be forever 

 wasted. It cannot be stored or saved for future use. 



From the first settlement of this country the pioneers 

 have used the vacant lands about them for grazing their 

 stock with little or no supervision or restraint, and no 



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