CONSERVATION CHARLEY by Harry Corry 



Charley's scratching an itch behind Bossy's 

 left ear. Bossy gives him a cowish grin. 



"Gee, that feels heavenly, " the grin says. It's 

 times like these that Bossy wishes she could purr 

 like a kitten. A purr is such a nice way of showing 

 satisfaction. But, alas, a cow can't purr — and a 

 bawling, "MO-O-O-O-O, " isn't adequate to ex- 

 press contentment. 



Charles quits scratching. He peers intently into 

 Bossy's big bloodshot eyes. 



"What's two and two?", he asks. 



Bossy chomps on her gum seven times. She 

 peers intently into' Charley's bloodshot eyes. 



"How about two and one?", he queries. 



Bossy stomps on the floor four times with her 

 right foot. 



"And one and one?", Chuck fearfully asks.. 



Bossy swishes her tail twice to the right and 

 thrice to the left. She can answer mathematical 

 questions in three languages — but the answer 

 always comes out in Greek. 



The blonde girl hanging on the old corral chomps 

 on her gum several times. 



"Whatcha doing. Jack?" she asks. 



"The name's Charley," our hero replies, "and 

 I'm trying to find some cows who can talk arith- 

 metic. Now why don't you run along Sis?" 



"The name's Bessy, " the blonde retorts, "and I 

 don't want to run along. Tain't everyday a girl 

 gets an opportunity to listen in on an intellectual 

 conversation. Whatcha want with a cow who sawys 

 arithmetic?" 



"I'm going to develop conservation cows," 

 Charley reluctantly replies. 



"Clue me in. Jack -- er, I mean Charley", she 

 says, "I don't dig ya'." 



"Well, with cows we've got now a rancher has to 

 keep his eye peeled and move the herd when they've 

 eaten half of the year's grass production in a past- 

 ure. Sometimes he gets busy and before he gets 

 back to the girls they've gobbled up 80 or 90 per- 

 cent of the grass. If a conservation cow under- 

 stands arilhmotic she can tell when she's eaten 

 half nf :i plani. und can move on by herself. " 



"So what's che beef?", asks Bessy. "The ranch- 

 er just gets more meat production off of each acre 

 if the cows eat more grass. " 



Charley's mouth gapes and his eyes bug. He 

 slaps his forehead. 



"I give up already, " he says resignedly. "You're 

 a human critter and you don't savvy conservation. 

 How can I expect to teach it to a cow?" 



"You say the nicest things, " giggles Bessy. "No 

 one's ever called me a critter before. " 



"I'm surprised, " Chuck gallantly retorts. "At 

 any rate even if I can't explain it to Bossy maybe 

 I can explain it to Bessy, huh?" 



"You see. Sis — er I mean, Bessy," Charley 

 begins, "a grass plant's growth is interrupted 

 if over half of the leaves and stems are whacked 

 off. Research shows that removal of top growth 

 causes a grass plant's roots to stop growing. If 

 the roots aren't growing they can't supply the 

 water and minerals necessary for the production 

 of more leaves — or more forage. 



Charley scratches behind Bessy's left ear and she 

 starts purring. 



"Production comes to a screeching halt when Bossy 

 knocks off 90% of the top growth and stuffs it into 

 her paunch, " Charley continues. "She temporarily 

 puts the plant out of business. The whole root sy- 

 stem quits growing. A month later 61% of the 

 roots are still hibernating — they haven't started 

 growing again. That's a month or more of feed 

 production that is lost." 



Bessy's purring is louder but it doesn't disrupt 

 Charley's line of thought. 



"A 70% loss of top growth knocks 78% of the root 

 system out of commission, " he continues. "It's 

 quite a struggle for the plant to make a new leaf 

 when the supply of nitrogen, phosphorus and iron 

 coming out of the ground is reduced 78%. At the 

 end of a month this plant has regained'conscious- 

 ness and has its whole root system working again. 

 A lot of production was lost in those first hectic 

 days, though." 



"When Bossy is satisfied with only 50% of the 

 plant's scalp, however, the machinery keeps 

 chuggln right along. Only 2% of the growing roots 

 stop to rest. The other 98% keeps shipping raw 

 materials topside in carload lots. Leaves spring 

 out of the ground on a continuous assembly line. 

 Bossy has a dependable food supply. " 



"The first commandment of a good range man- 

 agement program is "Take half and leave half", 

 Charley assures Bessy. "When a grass plant is 

 abused it ends up wek, worn and wan. It needs 

 complete rest and quiet. In its weakened condition 

 it is less able to resist grazing, erosion, drought, 

 cold and disease. " 



Bessy scratches behind Chuck's left ear and he 

 starts to purr. 



"By taking half and leaving half, on the other 

 hand, " Charley struggles on, "a rancher assures 

 himself that his pasture will not be hurt. He will 

 have grass for his cows next year. " 



"Gee, you're cute," Bessy assures Charley. 

 "Let's go get a warm glass of buttermilk and 



Charley reckons that's a good idea. They walk 

 off pjrring contentedly. 



