64 BULLETIN 791, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Owing to the stock working tlie seed into the ground as the ma- 

 ture herbage is grazed, better reproduction from seed is procured on 

 the area upon which the grazing is deferred than on that protected 

 from grazing yearlong. The vegetative reproduction, on the other 

 hand, is the same in the case of either treatment. 



Obviously, the increase in density that occurred on the protected 

 area here shown can not be termed true succession. A large number 

 of running rootstocks of such plants as yarrow, sweet sage, low 

 pea vine, and the like, as well as the weakened inconspicuous tufts 

 of the grasses, existed before the stock was excluded, and the shoots 

 began to appear as soon as sufficient food had been elaborated to 

 stimulate the buds to growth. Therefore, the practice of protecting 

 the lands from stock throughout the year w^ill result in quite as 

 rapid revegetation by vegetative means as will deferred grazing. 

 Eeproduction from seed, especially in large-seeded species, however, 

 is much more vigorous on areas where the grazing is deferred until 

 the seed crop has ripened. Hence deferred grazing has all of the 

 advantages of total protection and none of the disadvantages, such, 

 for example, as low or negative reproduction from seed, and waste 

 of forage during the period required for revegetation. 



JUDICIOUS GRAZING. 



In any well-planned method of grazing designed to handl3 the 

 lands as permanent grazing areas, two objects must be kept in mind. 

 One is the cropping of the herbage at a time in the season when 

 growth and reproduction will be interfered with as little as possible. 

 The other is the utilization of the forage crop w^hen it is most needed 

 and when the herbage is palatable and nutritious. 



At first thought it would appear that the requirements of the 

 vegetation and the requirements of the stock are rather antagonistic, 

 but if proper precautions are taken, this need not be the case. Few 

 plants, even when grazed closely, are appreciably weakened by being 

 grazed early in the season,^ let us say once in 3 or 4 years. Repeated 

 close early grazing, on the other hand, soon destroys the cover. 

 Through the application of the deferred- and-rotation grazing system, 

 which provides for the cropping of a portion of the range early in the 

 season only every third or fourth year, the vegetation will retain its 

 vitality almost as well as wdien not utilized at all, provided, of 

 course, that the number of stock carried is correctly estimated. 

 Hence judicious grazing on a well- vegetated area disturbs the cover 

 only to a slight extent. 



1 Early grazing may be defined as cropping of tlie herbage between the time that the 

 flower stalk is " in the boot " or sheath, that is, on the verge of appeai'ing, and the time 

 t of completion of the fertilization of the flowers, approximately between 2 and 4 weeks 

 after growth has begun. 



