176 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES 



cially in those parts of the West where, as in New 

 Mexico, the great salt lakes furnish an inexhaustible 

 supply of coarse-grained salt. There it may be had 

 for the hauling, and the cost of course depends entirely 

 on the distance to be hauled. 



The Salt Lakes. These salt lakes are peculiar places, 

 resembling large fresh-water ponds among the hills. 

 The water is seldom more than a foot or two deep, and 

 beneath it lies the salt. To obtain it they simply drive 

 the wagon out into the water and shovel in the salt, 

 which lies loose and is as easily dug as so much fine 

 gravel. A hundred wagons may load at one such lake 

 in a single day and within a short time the hole 

 made has filled up again. Some of these lakes have 

 been so used for 300 years and today the surface is appar- 

 ently at the same level as when the first white men 

 visited them back in 1545. 



In feeding rock salt all that is necessary is to dump 

 out the pieces and let the animals lick it as they please. 

 With fine salt some sort of trough or receptacle must be 

 provided in which to place it, and if the animals are 

 salt-hungry but a small Amount should be placed in 

 reach at one time. One objection to rock salt is that 

 it takes cattle a long time to get enough of it. 

 Another is that through the licking process they get 

 sore tongues. After feeding rock salt for twenty-five 

 years and watching carefully for any evidences of this 

 among range cattle at the local slaughter houses, I have 

 yet to see the first case of sore-tongue due to this 

 cause. 



Making a Salt Lick. The plan of digging long 

 trenches and putting salt in them, mixing it with a little 



