6 BULLETIN 588, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
“Taste I— Comparison of vegetation on grama-grass range lightly grazed during the grow~ 
ing seasons of 1918, 1914, and 1915 with that on similar adjoining range grazed year- 
long. 
7 ion.! a i 1 
wyiaaiten All v Hee Good forage Medium forage. 
fOMd ea ee 
watering . p . 
places. |Pasture 2. ee Pasture 2. eee Pasture 2. arg 
Miles 
506 138 325 0 170 138 
1 484 345 445 148 3 196 
14 556 213 517 117 38 
2 497 322 481 168 14 145 
23 567 340 511 268 54 70 
3 517 328 481 222 21 101 
33 529 375 487 208 41 165 
Ces epee tee CTU final Ny rete ASL i |pesaseeske 120 
GPU Greer ee RR) | ose sence HGS Wee sseecoss 18 
1 Figures represent square centimeters of vegetation on each 10,000 square centimeters of area, based 
on Measurements 1 inch above soil surface. 
The chenges in amount and kind of vegetation on the Pasture 2 
range as compared with the outside range during the three years are 
shown graphically in figure 1. . 
The striking features in connection with total vegetation are (1) 
that in the Reserve pasture it is higher from water out and is as great 
at less than one-half mile from watering places as that on the outside 
range about 44 miles from water, and (2) that on the outside range 
it is as great at a point about 5 miles from the watering places as it 
is at any point in the pasture. This last point shows that the out- 
side range is naturally as productive as the pasture, if grazed under 
the same system of management. Grazing at improper seasons and ~ 
overstocking, however, have kept the total vegetation at 70.3 per 
cent of that inside the Reserve. — | 
Total vegetation alone is not, however, a good index of carrying 
capacity or condition of a range, since on overgrazed areas the ten- 
dency is for good forage plants to be replaced by ones of less value. 
The curves for the amount of good forage plants on the two areas 
show that there is more good forage one-half mile from watering 
places in the Reserve pasture than at any point within 3? miles from 
water on the outside area, while Table I shows that there is only 
49 per-cent as much good forage on the outside range as in the pas- 
ture. As in the case of total vegetation, the amount of good forage 
on the outside range gradually increases with distance from water 
until ata point 5 miles from water it is as great as at any point in 
the pasture. 
The most striking features in connection with medium forage are 
i) that there is more on the outside range than in the pasture, except 
near water, and (2) that the amount on the outside range begins to 
decrease at about 34 miles from water, the point at which the good 
‘forage begins to increase rapidly. It will be noted also that in the 
