28 BULLETIN 211, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



It does no good then for Mr. A to say "I told you so," and his only 

 hope is that he can endure the losses longer than the new man and 

 that the latter will be forced to leave. 



There are only two other things that Mr. A can do. He may 

 either buy the newcomer out and so get rid of him — a practice that 

 sometimes induces men to dig wells to sell to established stockmen 

 who have made money — or he may develop another watering place 

 near the newcomer, thus restricting the latter's range to a minimum, 

 and wait for the dry years. Any way that the matter may now be 

 adjusted ultimately results in a direct loss for both men (accompanied 

 by great suffering by the stock) , an indirect loss to the general business 

 interests of the region, and a serious depreciation in the value of the 

 range. 



An experienced and successful cattleman hi the southern part of 

 New Mexico, commenting to the writer on this state of affairs not 

 long ago, said: 



I can better afford to take the $2,500 loss of stock which I know I will have when 

 the dry years come than to take my stock off my range and try to save the grass 

 which I know I will need in those dry years. I hold my range now only by having 

 my stock on it. If I take my stock off, someone else will take my range, and I can 

 afford to lose the stock better than lose the range. 



Every stockman using Government range lands is forced into this 

 kind of action whether he be astute enough to have reasoned it out 

 or not. Yet these same lands under a better type of management 

 (possible only under legalized control) would cany safely all the time 

 more and better stock than they now carry with such uncertainty. 



Now the crux of the situation is expressed in the phrase "possible 

 only under legalized control." The mere fact that the stockman is 

 not able to protect his range against willful misuse by himself is the 

 best of evidence that the industry has reached the limit of its possible 

 development under the system of management now in operation. 

 The earlier growth of the industry occurred under a condition of 

 what was practically unlimited free range and was satisfactory in 

 most ways as long as this condition continued; but as soon as all 

 the range land was occupied a new system became necessary, and 

 this necessity has been seen by investigators and far-sighted stock- 

 men for a long time. Before the industry can develop further it 

 must become possible to determine how many animals may be put 

 on a given area. But control of such animals as cattle, horses, mules, 

 and burros can be maintained only by fences. Under the present 

 system sheep and goats can be managed so as to prevent overstocking, 

 but they rarely are. With a properly fenced range even they are 

 better off, and the range is also. Let us assume that the right to 

 fence the range lands in severalty has been obtained and consider 

 the changes in management rendered possible thereby. 



