ARID AGRICULTURE. 



301 



RATIONAL 

 USE OF THE 

 RANGE 



AMOUNT OP 



RANGE 

 REQUIRED 



many cattle he may run on the range, and lines, 

 called dead lines, are drawn, across which the 

 sheepmen must not range their flocks. 



Ranchmen who own lands adjoining the 

 range territory naturally have the first right to 

 the use of their proportion of such grazing land. 

 The kind of stock ranged by the smaller ranch- 

 man will, of necessity, he horses or cattle, unless 

 the range area is sufficient in size to support one 

 or more flocks of sheep with a herder. A ranch- 

 man could not afford to hire a herder for a much 

 less number of sheep than 2,000 head. If he 

 has sufficient farm land to raise winter feed for 

 this number of sheep, he should have from five 

 to ten sections of range or from 3,000 to 6,000 

 acres. If he has only one section of grazing 

 land, he may pasture upon it from ten to twenty 

 head of cattle or horses during the season when 

 they could not be kept in the home fields. 



The number of acres in native pasture which 

 is necessary to support an animal varies in dif- 

 ferent sections of the country, depending upon 

 the arrangements at the home ranch for the rais- 

 ing of pasture and feed and upon the condition 

 of the native forage plants. Northern ranges 

 and those of high altitudes are covered princi- 

 pally with short grasses, and those further south 

 or at low altitudes may have as their pricipal 

 vegetation sage brush and salt sages. Where the 



