THE SMALLER GRASSES— STRAW 175 



grass, with alsike and medium red clover. The variety and proportion 

 of grasses and clovers to be included in any mixture depend on climatic 

 and soil conditions. Before sowing, one should consult the experi- 

 ment station of his state, as well as observe what varieties of grasses 

 and clovers thrive best in his particular locality. 



The abuse of pasturage. — Too many stockmen rely entirely upon 

 pastures for the maintenance of their cattle during half the year, not 

 realizing that if drought prevails during the summer months the ani- 

 mals may suffer from hunger. In addition, there is the heat of ' ' dog 

 days" and the ever-present annoyance of blood-sucking flies. Stock- 

 men who turn their cattle to pasture in spring, allowing them to forage 

 as best they can until winter, are guilty of barbarism as truly as were 

 the early Britons, who forced their stock to live on natural herbage 

 not only in summer but in winter as well. If the animals died from 

 starvation it was "an act of God." The stockman of today amply pro- 

 vides for winter's rigor, but he can never expect his flocks and herds 

 to yield their best returns unless he also makes ample provision against 

 the possibility of drought-ruined pastures in summer. 



In America we have not begun to use our pastures as efficiently as 

 is done in Europe, where stock is still economically grazed on land 

 worth several hundred dollars an acre. By proper fertilization, 

 reseeding, and keeping down of brush and weeds, the productivity of 

 pastures may be greatly increased. In humid regions unless grasses 

 are pastured so closely as to be killed out thru tramping, heavy graz- 

 ing is often better than pasturing too lightly, for weeds are then kept 

 from encroaching on the grasses. 



Because of over-stocking and consequent over-grazing under the 

 system of free grazing, the carrying capacity of many of the western 

 ranges has been seriously reduced. The day of the " all-3'ear-round " 

 open range is almost past, and in its place has come a system under 

 which, by the use of supplemental feed for periods of summer drought 

 and winter storm, the natural forage is used much more wisely than 

 before. With ranges thus handled, the enormous losses of cattle and 

 sheep from starvation, which were all too common in the old range 

 days, are prevented. Fencing or otherwise restricting the range, 

 developing convenient water supplies, protecting the range during 

 periods of seed ripening and germination, and preventing soil erosion, 

 will greatly increase the amount of feed produced. In one instance a 

 range of 25 square miles, 6 j^ears after fencing, not only carried twice 

 as many cattle as before but also kept them in much better condition.^ 



2Thornber and Griffith, Ariz. Bui. 65. 



