40 AGRICULTURE ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE 



slopes. When cattle are allowed to make hillside trails 

 to water, the trails are afterwards often washed into 

 gullies by the rains. Great areas of pasture have been 

 ruined in this way in the arid states (notably in Arizona, 

 New Mexico, and Montana). Figure 18 a shows Arizona 

 pasture land in its natural ungrazed condition, while 



FIG. 18 a. Pasture land in Arizona in its natural condition. 



figure 18 b shows similar land which has been ruined 

 beyond repair. This was done by putting too many 

 cattle on the land (overstocking) and allowing them to 

 destroy the vegetation and make downhill trails to 

 water. The heavy downpours of rain rushing down 

 these trails first wash away and carry off the surface 



