BETTER ADAPTATION OF PLANTS 361 
veloped on his property. This will be determined by his needs and 
opportunities, and of course will have to fit in with other farm 
operations such as grain growing and irrigated pastures. Inci- 
dentally, experience has shown that in California about ten acres 
of unimproved range are required to supplement each acre of 
irrigated pasture (33). 
Non-arable land may be fertilized to provide early feed. Arable 
land that cannot be irrigated may be seeded to legumes to provide 
late green feed or feed during the dry season (44). The better soils 
may be seeded to mixtures of perennial grasses and legumes to 
extend the green feed period. 
Governments may assist in a number of ways. More money 
put into research programs would undoubtedly pay dividends. 
At the farm level, such programs as the U. S. Department of 
Agriculture’s Agricultural Conservation Program is helpful in 
assisting farmers financially. 
What Are the Economic Possibilities? 
A few examples will be given from California experience. 
In 1950 when the first farmer began his project of converting 
poor land to annual clovers his cost for land preparation, fertiliz- 
ing, and seeding were about $20.00 an acre. Carrying capacity the 
first spring following seeding was trebled, returning at grazing 
rental rates $15.00 an acre. Aftermath grazing added another 
$5.00 an acre to the returns. By 1952 his costs were down to about 
$15.00, primarily because the new clover seeds were more abun- 
dant and cheaper. Another farmer seeded and phosphated 350 
acres in 1953 at a cost of $8.00 per acre. His net return (based on 
cattle gains) was about $10.00 an acre the first year. A herd of 
700 animals had access to the 350 acres for 50 days in the spring 
and averaged 46 pounds more than a comparable herd on unim- 
proved range throughout the season. 
A perennial grass-annual clover mixture produced 79.3 pounds 
of beef per acre July 12 to October 3, 1953, in addition to a grazing 
period in the spring and about 120 sheep-days per acre cleanup 
later that same fall. The gross return that year alone was well 
over $20.00 per acre. With trial plots as a guide, there is no ques- 
