32 NATIONAL FOREST, STATE, AND PRIVATE LANDS 



depleted, stockmen in the beginning refused to lease the pas- 

 tures. Soon, however, sheep raisers, whose stock could readily 

 be controlled on unfenced lands and who desired to put their 

 industry on a firm basis, acquired the use of the lands. This 

 naturally forced the cattle breeders also to accept the leasing 

 system, as they feared they might ultimately have no pastures 

 for their stock. 



The first lease of Northern Pacific lands went into effect July i, 

 1896. Six years later over 300 leases were in force covering ap- 

 proximately 1,500,000 acres of pasture land. Although the 

 leases were made for a period of five years, it was not the ultimate 

 object of the company to estabhsh a permanent system of leasing 

 but rather to demonstrate that the productivity of the lands, 

 under judicious management, could be restored, and thereby 

 stimulate their purchase. The rental fee was a little less than 

 2 cents per acre, and the purchase price was proportionately low. 

 As soon as it was seen that the lands could be revegetated, 

 extensive sales were made, and in a few years the pastures were 

 in private ownership. In this way the leasing system had its 

 desired effect. 



Benefits of the Leasing System. — A great many advantages 

 have been derived from the leasing system as applied to lands 

 owned by States and those owned by railroads. The effect was 

 that of substituting an orderly, economical, and productive 

 system of harvesting the natural forage crop for a precarious, 

 wasteful, and unproductive one. 



Because a large number of nomadic cattle and horses con- 

 sumed much of the spring, autumn, and winter feed upon which 

 the lessee was dependent, fencing of the leased lands was imper- 

 ative to success. Fencing is one of the first steps towards stock 

 control and permanent range improvement. With the fencing 

 of the pasture the stockman knows exactly the acreage upon 

 which he must depend. By supplementing this information 

 with observations as to the character and density of the vege- 

 tation, he can closely estimate the number of animals the pasture 

 will safely carry year after year (Fig. 8). 



The leasing system, primarily because of the fencing of the 



