CHAPTER XV 



DEVELOPMENT OF WATERING PLACES FOR RANGE 

 AND PASTURE STOCK 



From the earliest settlement of the country the availability 

 of water has been a factor of primary consideration. In the 

 stocking of the grazing grounds of the far West the water avail- 

 able for foraging animals was, as it is now, a determining factor 

 in the use of the forage crop. The pioneer stockmen invariably 

 located the center of their operations close to accessible water. 

 Later competition forced them back into the rugged country 

 where, likewise, they laid claim to the lakes and accessible pools. 

 Here water was abundant or scarce according to the amount of 

 rain or snow on the watersheds. 



Availability of Water. — Only a portion of the vast arid range 

 of the West has ample water so distributed as to make possible 

 the efficient use of the forage crop year after year and the main- 

 tenance of the forage yield even with the proper management of 

 the lands. In many places ample water for livestock is avail- 

 able only early in the season, and, as all of the feed produced 

 cannot be cropped during this short period, a large proportion 

 is lost annually. 



No stock range can be efficiently utilized if there is an uneven 

 or inadequate distribution of water. The abundance and dis- 

 tribution of the water supply determines more than any other 

 single factor the time in the season when the forage may be 

 cropped, and hence regulates the value of the range and deter- 

 mines the methods of managing the range as well as the stock. 



Fortunately man's control over the distribution of watering 

 places in many localities is far reaching. It is the aim to point 

 out here (i) how and under what conditions stock- watering 

 places may be developed economically; (2) the best-known 

 methods of conserving and amplifying the water supply; and 

 (3) the desirable distribution of water for stock on lands of vari- 

 ous types and having different topographic features. 



