ACREAGE REQUIRED FOR CATTLE 



331 



Grazing Capacity of the National Forests in Cow Units from 1907 to 

 1921, Inclusive « 



" These data wore furnished through the courtesy of the U. S. Forest Service. 

 * The gross-acreage requirement for a cow unit per year as here given embraces all of the waste 

 ind barren lands included in the National Forests. 



In 1907 the average required was 57.6 gross or surface acres 

 to support a cow unit as compared with 39.3 acres in 1918, with 

 a gradual trend towards the minimum during the intervening 

 years. These data are significant in that they show clearly the 

 effect of improved range management in increasing the grazing 

 capacity. 



Acreage Required for Cattle, — Jardine and Anderson^ have 

 shown that on National Forest range, all the important types 

 and varied topographic features considered, an average of 24 

 to 30 surface acres, exclusive of inaccessible lands, or about 

 9.6 forage acres, are required per year for a cow unit. This is 

 equivalent to approximately 12.5 surface acres, or 4.4 forage 

 acres for the usual summer-grazing period on the National 

 Forests of five and one-half months. On the Santa Rita Range 

 Reserve in southern Arizona, an area located in the foothills, 



1 Jardine, James T., and Anderson, Mark, "Range Management on the National 

 Forests." U. S. Dept. of Agr. Bui. 790, pp. 27-30, 1919. 



