laid. The presses were merely pieces of planed pine board, cov- 

 ered on one side with transverse cleats one inch apart. A good 

 heavy stone supplied the pressure, and the wind and sun dried 

 out blotters and plants very rapidly. By this method we collected 

 and pressed besides the forage plants a great many specimens of 

 purely scientific interest. Each specimen was given a number 

 when it was put into the press. The same number was given to 

 an entry in a note book, which recorded all the facts that were 

 given us by the sheepmen or that we observed for ourselves. 

 When the pressed specimens became dry and brittle they were 

 securely packed between heavy pasteboards, and shipped by stage 

 or by train to Reno. 



By this process we secured perfect specimens of all the im- 

 portant forage plants and grasses found at that time of the year 

 in the part of the Sierra visited. These specimens are now at the 

 University, and may be seen by anyone interested in them. 



THE DEPLETION OF THE RANGES FOR SHEEP AND 



CATTLE, WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR RANGE 



IMPROVEMENT. 



Altogether too many sheep and cattle per square mile have 

 been grazed on most of the ranges of the Western States, and, 

 naturally enough, these ranges are not so good as they used to 

 be; many sections are permanently injured, others made wholly 

 useless. These depleted ranges should be made if possible as pro- 

 ductive as ever by reseeding with the best native forage plants 

 and grasses, and with the best ones from foreign countries. This 

 is a matter of importance to the whole nation. It is especially 

 important in the States where stockraising is a leading industry. 



On the public lands competition among the cattlemen and 

 between sheepmen and cattlemen has been so severe that the 

 ranges have become greatly depleted. In the Southwest this was 

 not due to ignorance. The stockmen knew that the grass would 

 not last forever. Each man planned to get all he could while it 



