fflSTORY OF GRAZING RECONNAISSANCE 309 



History of Grazing Reconnaissance. — In practical livestock 

 production there is a limit to the extent to which the details of 

 range and pasture management may be trusted to memory. 

 There is also a limit to the accuracy of individual judgment, 

 even when based on experience, if it is unsupported by actual 

 facts. This is seen to be all tne more true if one takes into 

 account the ever-changing personnel in the handling both of 

 private and public pasture lands. 



A western ranchman, who had enjoyed more than average 

 success, once told the author that the wealth he had accumu- 

 lated through livestock production was very largely attributable 

 to the attention he gave to details. Although his pastures were 

 extensive, embracing several thousand acres, and located on a 

 level stretch of country, he had made so intensive a study of the 

 tract as to know with considerable precision where the various 

 forage types were located, their approximate size, their forage 

 value and grazing capacity, what areas were in need of reseeding, 

 what parts had to be grazed early in the season because of lack 

 of water later on, the number of stock the pasture would sup- 

 port indefinitely, and other pertinent facts. In other words, he 

 knew fairly well what his forage resources were and how to utilize 

 the feed to the best advantage. 



Practically the only objection to this plan was that the old 

 gentleman carried this valuable information in his memory. If 

 the facts studied so painstakingly had been placed on a map or 

 kept in some tangible and accessible form, his son also, who was 

 then in college, and who soon became heir to the ranch, could 

 have profitably utilized the detailed information gathered by 

 his deceased father. Not only is it convenient in formulating 

 future management plans, but it is also advantageous from a 

 purely business viewpoint, unless the holdings are small, to have 

 at hand a rough sketch at least of all pasture and range lands, and, 

 indeed, of the lands under tillage. 



Up to the time of writing (1922) the most extensive and system- 

 atic effort that has been made to secure and apply data pertaining 

 to the resources which the land affords has been bestowed upon 

 the National Forests. The average size of the National Forests 



