RANGE IMPROVEMENT. 311 



(3) top-dressing with stable manure, (4) sowing wild or cultivated forage 

 plants, (5) keeping weeds mowed, (6) water development, (7) rest. Since the 

 work of these two pioneers in range improvement, the subject has been dis- 

 cussed more or less completely or from various sides by Bentley (1898, 1902), 

 Nelson (1898), Shear (1901), Griffiths (1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1907, 1910), 

 Davy (1902), Cotton (1905, 1908), Wooton (1908, 1915, 1916), Sampson 

 (1908, 1909, 1913, 1914, 1918, 1919), Jardine (1908, 1911, 1912), Thornber 

 (1910, 1914), Wilcox (1911), Barnes (1913), Darlington (1915), Barnes and 

 Jardine (1916), Potter (1917), Jardine and Hurtt (1917), Clements (1917,. 

 1918, 1919), Sarvis (1919), and Jardine and Anderson (1919). 



The first experimental study of grazing was carried on at Abilene and 

 Channing, Texas, from 1899 to 1901 by Smith and Bentley (p. 20). Experi- 

 ments under practical grazing conditions have been made on the Jornada and 

 Santa Rita Range Reserves of the Forest Service for the past seven years. 

 Intensive studies in smaller pastures and hence under closer control have 

 been carried on by the Office of Dry-Land Agriculture at Mandan, North 

 Dakota, since 1915, and at Ardmore, South Dakota, since 1918. Both the 

 field and experimental studies have conclusively demonstrated the essentials 

 of range improvement and have made it ik)ssible to outline a complete system 

 based upon investigation as well as practice. 



Prerequisites. In addition to the actual processes concerned in improving 

 the range, certain factors are prerequisite to any hnprovement or necessary 

 for the best results. By far the most important of these is adequate control, 

 without which improvement is all but impossible. It is immaterial whether 

 control is secured through ownership or leasing, provided it permits fencing. 

 However, leasing has the indirect advantage that it enables the State to exact 

 certain conditions as to utilization. The value of control in preventing over- 

 stocking and permitting rotation is obvious. Next in importance is a practi- 

 cal appreciation of the inevitable recurrence of dry and wet periods and their 

 critical effect upon the range. It is imperative that the ranchman be pre- 

 pared to reduce the pressure upon his range as the dry phase of the climatic 

 cycle approaches and that he be ready to take full advantage of the excess 

 carrying capacity of the wet phase. In fact, the whole system of improve- 

 ment must be focussed upon the destructive effect of overgrazing in dr>^ years 

 and the possibility of greater utihzation and of successful sowing and planting 

 during wet years. Furthermore, there must be some recognition of the 

 universal processes of succession and their importance in regeneration. It is 

 necessary to take into full account the fact that destructive overgrazing, 

 trampling, and other disturbances will destroy the grass communities and 

 make place for one of weeds. Even more important is the recognition of the 

 fact that weed communities will be maintained indefinitely by continued 

 overgrazing or disturbance, or that they will slowly give way to the returning 

 grasses if the area is protected for a time. In short, an elementary under- 

 standing of successional processes furnishes a tool for manipulating the graz- 

 ing cover more or less as desired. Finally, a trustworthy idea of the con- 

 dition and tendency of the range is impossible without adequate methods of 

 measurement. In practice, such methods can best be supplied by indicator 

 plants, and by a careful check upon the condition of animals when they enter 

 and leave the range. In both investigation and demonstration, however, 



