THE GRASS LANDS 179 



lives on another stream. He builds a dam across the stream and 

 diverts the water into a series of irrigation ditches. People 

 downstream protest about this but the courts declare that B 

 has a right to use this water as he chooses. In which part of 

 the country does A live and in which part does B live? 



3. Suppose you are appointed by the federal government to 

 make a survey of the use of range lands in Wyoming. The gov 

 ernment wants to use this survey as a source of information 

 so that they can draw up a plan for balanced range use. What 

 kind of information shall you try to get? Write a short report 

 of this imaginary survey. 



4. Take a piece of sod. Put it in a wooden box and tilt the 

 , box to an angle of about 45 degrees. Rest the box in a pan. 



Now take another box. Fill it with earth, tilt it, and rest it in a 

 pan as you did the box with the sod. Get a sprinkling can or 

 any ordinary can with holes punched in the bottom. Fill it 

 with water and hold it over first one box and then the other. 

 Now measure the amount of silt and water in the pan at the 

 bottom of both of the boxes. This will give you some idea of 

 the effect of sod in holding the soil. 



5. Find out what happens to the tax-delinquent land in your 

 county. How much time is the taxpayer given to make up back 

 taxes? What happens to the land when it is taken from the 

 taxpayer? 



6. Assume that your whole class are cattle ranchers in one 

 region in Montana. The ownership of the area is divided among 

 a great many people. Part of it is federal land, part state land, 

 part private land. You decide to apply for permission to form 

 a grazing district. From among your classmates elect a board 

 of directors. Let 10 per cent of the class be tenants, 60 per cent 

 owners of small ranches, 15 per cent owners of medium-sized 

 ranches, and 15 per cent owners of large ranches. Set up a 

 grazing district as it is outlined on page 174. Proportion the 

 land, elect committees, draw up a land-use plan, and so on. 



