NATIONAL FOREST MANUAL GRAZING. 77 



stock. They should, however, help the stockmen where they can 

 and avoid an unnecessary disregard of the authority of the person in 

 charge of the work. 

 Calf Tally. 



Under ordinary conditions of stock raising, four times the number 

 of calves branded hi an average year will approximate the total 

 number of stock the owner has, from yearlings up. To illustrate, 

 if a man brands 100 calves in a normal season it is probable that he 

 has about 400 head of cattle, counting yearlings and beef on the range. 

 The calf tally multiplied by 5 will give the approximate number of 

 stock the owner will have on the range in the following year less the 

 number of head sold or lost. 

 Sales Records. 



The record of stock sold and slaughtered, which usually may be 

 obtained from the State Sanitary Board and checked up by railroad 

 records when the stock is shipped from railroad points, will furnish a 

 close approximation of the number of stock a permittee is grazing 

 provided he is not selling steers raised by other users of the range. 

 Range Estimates. 



An estimate based upon the stock found upon a certain range is of 

 little value unless it is made by two or more men simultaneously to 

 make sure the same animals were not counted twice. A single ranger 

 should not attempt a range count that will extend over more than 

 one day unless he is certain that stock seen the first day will not 

 stray upon the area to be worked the second. 



Some animals are bound to be overlooked in a range count, there- 

 fore the estimate should be based upon the assumed ratio of the cattle 

 seen and counted to the cattle on the range. This percentage will 

 rarely be more than two-thirds, and may be half. If the count is 

 based on the work of several men, it is possible to apply as a check 

 the percentage of the calf crop that was overlooked on the round-up 

 and subsequently range branded, but this of course is a suggestion 

 only. 



DAMAGE BY STOCK. (Reg. G-25.) 



Stockmen may and should be required to repair all damage caused 

 by the presence of their stock upon the Forest, but should not be 

 called upon to make the repairs of damage not caused by their stock. 

 It is entirely reasonable to require a permittee to clear a road or 

 trail which has been filled with rocks by the passage of his stock, 

 but it is not reasonable to ask him to repair roads or trails that 

 were in poor condition before his stock entered the Forest. It is 

 also reasonable to require the fencing and troughing of a spring or 

 seep which has been damaged by the stock of the permittee. Other- 

 wise the Service should undertake the improvement with the coopera- 

 tion of the interested permittees if they can be persuaded to assist. 



BEDDING SHEEP AND GOATS. (Reg. G-26.) 



Prolonged Use of Bed Ground. 



The prolonged use of one bed ground by a band of sheep is destruc- 

 tive to the range because the amount of forage tramped by a close- 

 herded band of sheep is fully as great as the amount actually fed. 

 Then, too, the sheep leave the bed ground hungry and eat a large 



