238 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



June, 



injured if sheep were excluded from the 

 reserve. 



For the past fifteen years some of the 

 sheep-owners have driven their bands to 

 the Salt River Valley during the winter 

 months. This winter range was desir- 

 able, because in this mild climate the 

 'ewes could be lambed full}^ two months 

 earlier than on the northern ranges, and 

 the sheep fattened rapidly on the feed 

 furnished by these ranges of lower alti- 

 tude. Particularlv was this true in 



In August, 1 898, the mountain range 

 extending across the northeastern part 

 of Arizona was set apart by the Presi- 

 dent as the San Francisco Mountains 

 and Black Mesa Forest Reserves. The 

 rules and regulations prohibited the 

 grazing of sheep within the reserves. 

 Consequently the sheepmen whose in- 

 terests were at stake took steps toward 

 securing the granting of the grazing 

 privilege. Now commenced a vigorous 

 opposition from the canal-owners and 



EXCElvIvENT REPRODUCTION ON A RANGE WHICH HAS BEEN GRAZED BY SHEEP AND CATTLE 



FOR TWENTV-FIVE YEARS. 



seasons of copious rainfall, when the 

 desert valleys were covered with a pro- 

 lific growth of Indian Wheat and Al- 

 fileria, the fattening quahties of which 

 cannot be excelled by any other range 

 forage plants. The largely increased 

 number of sheep driven to these south- 

 ern ranges each year caused a strong 

 opposition to arise among the cattlemen 

 over whose ranges they passed in tran- 

 sit, as it very materially decreased the 

 carrying capacity of the range for cattle. 



farmers of the Salt River Valley, who 

 claimed that the grazing of sheep in the 

 mountains diminished their water sup- 

 ply and filled their canals with silt ; 

 from the cattlemen, whose ranges had 

 been injured, and from the owners of 

 the railroad lands, who had various ob- 

 jects in view. The result was that, 

 after investigation of the question and 

 examination of the forest reserves, the 

 sheepmen were granted permits to graze 

 their flocks on the north slope of the 



