TENURE AND USE OF ARID GRAZING LANDS. 9 



Since nearly all of the forest and woodland is operated as arid 

 grazing land, it follows that over half of the area of the 11 Western 

 States is used as arid grazing land and must continue to be so used. 

 Practically all the Government land remaining unreserved is arid 

 grazing land and lies scattered in smaller or larger parcels among 

 lands of other tenure in all of these States. Hence the conclusion 

 is reached that the land policy under which the disposal of these 

 lands is made is of great importance to one of the principal in- 

 dustries, occupying about half the area in the western half of the 

 country, and employing many people. 



SOME FACTORS CONTROLLING STOCK RAISING ON ARID GRAZING 



LANDS. 



In the business of raising stock on the arid grazing lands, prac- 

 tices which may be adopted are automatically limited by (1) physical 

 or natural factors, like climate, soil, topography, etc., (2) the resultant 

 forage crop, and (3) social and economic conditions, such as the 

 laws and customs which determine the method of using the land, 

 the marketing conditions, the methods of financing the business. 



THE NATURAL CONDITIONS. 



The natural conditions governing the stock-raising industry are 

 those which determine the quantity and kind of feed that maybe 

 produced and the time at which it may or must be used. 



The quantity of feed produced per acre in any part of the arid 

 grazing region is usually small, much smaller than that grown on 

 an equal area of cultivated land. Hence the area of land necessary 

 to produce sufficient feed for an animal for one year is always large 

 as compared with the area required to produce feed for an animal 

 of the same kind on a farm. Rarely less than 7 to 10 acres and often 

 more than 50 acres are required to support a mature cow, or equiv- 

 alent live stock, for a year. For the southwestern states (not in- 

 cluding the desert area) the average is approximately 30 acres per 

 cow. 



This region receives relatively little precipitation, there are a 

 large number of clear days during the year, and ordinarily a very 

 dry atmosphere. The plants are subjected to strong light, high 

 daily temperatures, sudden and large changes in temperature, and 

 a wide annual range of temperature, as well as a limited supply 

 of moisture. The different adjustments of these factors of moisture, 

 heat, and light, modified to a greater or less degree by the soil and 

 topography, determine the area over which each kind of plant may 

 grow. The combination of plants growing over an area forms the 

 plant association for that area, and the plant association determines 

 in a broad way the grazing capacity for live stock. 

 60835°— 22— Bull. 1001 2 



