80 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES 



only graze when young and tender, and some which 

 look to be good feed but which nothing will touch. 

 Thus if one looks only at the amount of feed left on the 

 range, unless he is well acquainted with that particular 

 range and its grasses, he may be misled. Sheep are great 

 weed-eaters. . The Minnesota experiment station found 

 that out of 480 weeds in that state sheep ate no less than 

 430 of them. This fact should always be taken into 

 consideration in looking over ranges, because a range 

 may have very little grass and still be a splendid sheep 

 range. 



In handling sheep it is well to remember that 1,000 

 ewes and their lambs will not do so much harm to the 

 feed and range as 1,000 dry ewes or wethers. The latter 

 classes roam about, do not graze quietly and generally 

 graze in closer formation, thus wearing out the range 

 more than the ewes and lambs do. 



The fact that a certain area will support 1,000 sheep 

 or 500 cattle for six months does not mean that it will 

 carry twice that number of either kind for half the 

 time. The growth of the feed during the grazing period 

 is overlooked if this be done, as well as the natural 

 trampling due to overcrowding. 



