Grazing Investigations on Our National Forests 1M 



stockmen, however, are convinced that cattle can not profit- 

 ably be run in pastures. This has been tested on a small scale 

 under range conditions of private holdings and on leased 

 lands. It is alleged that range cattle, owing to their un 

 familiarity with fences, seem to be unadapted to pasturage 

 conditions. Instead of grazing contentedly in a pasture as 

 sheep are found to do, cattle wear themselves out through 

 restlessly wandering along the fence line. 



This condition has not manifested itself upon National 

 Forests along drift fences and in community enclosures (the 

 latter merely being large pastures), and it would seem that 

 the cause for the unsettled, restless character of the stock 

 might be due to a lack of highly-relished forage. Frequently 

 the carrying capacity of a range is overestimated. In certain 

 cases it seems to be presumed that the elimination of nomandic 

 stock through fencing does not increase the forage supply 

 at all, for in many cases more stock are grazed after fencing 

 than the previous carrying capacity would warrant. Within 

 the last couple of seasons, however, the writer has observed 

 that the most aggressive and successful stockmen are running 

 a large number of cattle under the pasturage system, especially 

 in localities where the natural grazing lands are becoming 

 more and more limited. 



The pasturage experiment with sheep has definitely proven 

 that stock on the open range, so far as possible, should be 

 handled as much in the same manner as they conduct them- 

 selves in an enclosure as is possible. For example, instead of 

 using the same bed ground for sheep for a succession of nights 

 and in the place of grazing a large range area to its utmost 

 capacity from a single camp, destroying a large amount of 

 forage through trampling, the band should be bedded where 

 night overtakes it, Open grazing should be practised at all 

 times, avoiding reckless herding and massing together through 

 the injudicious and excessive use of dogs. 



The record of the experiment in 1909 in the Wallowa 

 National Forest* showed that among the other advantages 

 of the pasturage fence in handling sheep on the range may 

 be mentioned protection from predatory animals, economy 



*"The Pasturage System for Handling Range Sheep Investigations dnrinv 

 1909," by ,T. T. Jardine, U. S. F. S. Circular 178. 



