COST OF OVERGRAZING 6l 



feed must be cropped while the vegetation is growing, such a 

 plan is impracticable. Any feasible plan of improving the lands, 

 therefore, demands a grazing system which permits full use of 

 the pasture during the growing season. This is accompHshed 

 by alternating the grazing and the resting of the lands in accord- 

 ance with nature's rules — rules prescribed by the growth re- 

 quirements of the important vegetation itself. 



Migrations of Buffaloes Suggest Revegetation Plan. — The 

 roving habits of buffaloes led them north in the spring and south 

 at the approach of winter. Notwithstanding the enormous 

 numbers of the animals, these migrations caused practically no 

 range deterioration. A proper rotation of grazing and resting 

 pasture lands accomphshes notable results. Although the bene- 

 fits from intermittent grazing are conspicuous and indisputable, 

 the stockman has been slow to adopt such a plan, either on the 

 public domain or on his own range. Admittedly, resting the 

 pasture throughout one or more seasons is inconvenient and ex- 

 pensive, as it does not fit in with an estabHshed meat-producing 

 business. Where the pasture forage is declining rapidly, how- 

 ever, it is necessary to face the facts, and either allow some period 

 of rest or reduce the stock accordingly. 



The object of the following discussion is to show how native 

 western pasture lands may be fully revegetated without the loss 

 of a single season's forage crop, and yet how this may be accom- 

 plished quite as rapidly as when the areas are closed to grazing. 

 Although this statement may be surprising, the system is built 

 on a thoroughly tested scientific foundation and has been devel- 

 oped in accordance with common sense. 



Cost of Overgrazing. — Grazing the pasture to its very maxi- 

 mum year after year can produce only one result — a sharp 

 decline in its carrying capacity. In regions where the climatic 

 conditions are subject to considerable fluctuation, as they are 

 over most of the West, stocking the lands to their maximum as 

 compared with their optimum capacity, is like buying fluctu- 

 ating stocks on the minimum marginal requirements of the 

 broker, as compared with an outright purchase. When the 

 pressure comes, the investment in cattle (or in stocks) is quickly 



