THE CALL OF THE LAND 



Plowing in the way described is not neces- 

 sary. Bare spots may be simply harrowed, 

 and seed from valuable grasses sown on 

 them when wet. Spots can thus in a short 

 time be covered with the best grasses, and 

 these will, a little later, overspread and re- 

 seed the whole. Even harrowing may be 

 dispensed with if sowing occurs just before 

 or after a rain, or when a thin snow covers 

 the ground. 



The advantages of herding under control 

 are so decisive that control has for a num- 

 ber of years been in actual exercise on pub- 

 lic ranges. To secure or facilitate this, 

 millions of acres of government land have 

 been fenced contrary to law, but to the im- 

 mense advancement of the cattle industry. 



All meadows, all patches clearly suited to 

 cultivation, all springs or other natural 

 water privileges, indeed all the best grazing 

 lands, had been taken up and were owned by 

 settlers. A settler might own a quarter sec- 

 tion producing hay, and two miles away 

 another section equally good, the two, how- 

 ever separated by sandhills with "blow- 



54 



