372 DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DAIRYING, ETC. 



Suggestions. Attention should be given by all sheepmen to the 

 more valuable plants on their range and a particular effort should 

 be made, not only to preserve these, but also to increase them. Plants 

 of no value, like the nettle-leaved mint and the poverty weed, should 

 be replaced by either native or introduced forage plants of value. 



The fenced areas along the creeks could be made to produce 

 more grass and less of the sedges and rushes by a more scientific use 

 of the flood waters in the spring of the year. This could be done by 

 a better system of ditches and drainage, giving a more even distrib- 

 ution of the water. Much land at present receives too much water in 

 spring and none during the summer. This accounts for the great 

 preponderance of the almost worthless rush, commonly known as 

 "wire grass" (Juncus balticus), in the native hay, which can with- 

 stand these conditions, while the valuable native blue grasses must 

 have drained land. Every possible means should be used in this re- 

 gion to retain the layer of soil on the hillsides, which at best is not 

 over abundant, in order that the water, falling in the form of rains, 

 may soak up into the soil and gradually give up its moisture as un- 

 derground water for months after the rains have ceased. We well 

 know that, if the soil is removed, a hard impervious surface is the 

 result, and the rains falling on this run off rapidly, cutting gullies 

 everywhere. This problem is of the greatest importance in this re- 

 gion, as the area of land which contains forage is far in excess of the 

 amount of water remaining in the creeks during the months of 

 July, August, and September. Unlike the Sierras and other wooded 

 regions, there are few trees which are annually shedding their leaves 

 and producing a layer of spongy soil. Red top and the native clovers 

 which are not abundant here, but in similar situations in other 

 parts of the State, might be sown within the fenced areas to the 

 great improvement of the hay. Where only a moderate amount of 

 water can be obtained, the smooth brome grass (bromus inermis) 

 will prove of great value for early pasture. The wheat grasses, 

 chiefly the bunch or Western wheat grass (Agropyron spicatum) 

 and the slender wheat grass (Agropyron tenerum) are also worthy 

 of a place in these enclosed areas. 



The springs should be protected from being trampled into 

 bogs by cattle, cutting down a few of the cottonwoods close by and 

 fencing in the mouth of the spring. Troughs should also be made 

 for the sheep and cattle to drink out of. 



Stockmen, whether sheep or cattlemen, should own and control 

 absolutely the land over which they graze to the exclusion of all 

 others. This control should last for a long number of years, so that 

 they may get the benefits of a judicious use of their ranges. There 

 should be no free public range. The arguments given forth that by 

 the use of the free range great additions are made annually to the 

 country's wealth is a good one. This would be well and good if a 

 guarantee could be given to the people of the United States that these 

 lands would continue to produce the same amount of wealth in fu- 

 ture generations. We know that this has not been the case with the 

 ranges in Texas, Arizona, and even in our own State. An author- 



