RESEEDING COMPLICATIONS 8 1 



ferred-grazing system in some practical way. Actual grazing 

 tests have shown clearly that a good seed crop and forage in- 

 crement may be expected, even when the herbage is closely 

 cropped, if the animals are removed from the range by about 

 the middle of March. Ordinarily the more important annual 

 species mature in the spring and produce viable seed in about 

 six weeks. The plan of deferring or discontinuing grazing 

 sufficiently early in the spring to provide seed gives great prom- 

 ise of effective revegetation of these ranges. The extent of the 

 application of this reseeding plan is determined largely by the 

 possibihties (i) of reserving range in the spring for the animals 

 that are to be removed from the area in need of reseeding, and 

 (2) of producing supplemental roughage for the stock during 

 the time required for the range plants to develop a seed crop, 

 wherever a portion of the range can not be reserved. 



Stockmen in CaHfornia are now adopting this reseeding plan; 

 for, if the area to be reserved is grazed up to about March 15, 

 there is practically no loss of forage. Moreover, the additional 

 feed originating from the seed produced soon increases appreci- 

 ably the grazing capacity of the lands, thereby more than 

 offsetting any disadvantage encountered in providing the neces- 

 sary protection. After one part of the pasture or range unit 

 is reseeded protection during the spring should be apphed to 

 another part, and the rotation continued indefinitely as de- 

 scribed in applying the deferred-grazing system on the high 

 mountain range. 



Reseeding Complications. — If grazing could be deferred for 

 two or three seasons in succession over an entire pasture or range 

 unit, the whole would soon be reseeded. Deferring the grazing 

 to such an extent, however, is clearly impracticable, because, 

 as already pointed out, pasture is in demand throughout the 

 growing season. 



Although the deferred-grazing system is applicable generally 

 on all classes of native western pasture, it is not without certain 

 drawbacks. On sheep range, because the animals are constantly 

 vmder the control of a herder, deferred grazing is readily and 

 effectively applied. Likewise, on fenced cattle pastures the 



