KANGE A]SrD CATTLE MANAGEMENT DURING DROUGHT. 11 



•owner, who is the cooperator with the Department of Agriculture in 

 the experiments, occupied part of the present area of the Eeserve as 

 open range and developed the first substantial permanent wells in 

 the vicinity in 1904. With the exception of slightly better watering 

 facilities due to development of several more wells and tanks on the 

 area than on the average open range of the same size, the area was 

 handled much the same as the average open range prior to the crea- 

 tion of the reserve. May 3, 1912. Stock grazed any part of the range 

 yearlong, there was no provision for drought or to prevent overgraz- 

 ing, losses and calf crop were about the same as elsewhere, and any 

 attempts to improve the grade of stock were discouraging. 



During the drought of 1908-1910 the experiences on the area now 

 included in the reserve were similar to those that occurred on many 

 other open ranges in that drought and in the drought of 1916-1918. 

 Several good years had preceded the drought and in 1908 there were 

 about 5,000 head of cattle on the 200,000 acres. In 1911, when the 

 drought was over, only 600 head of cattle remained. The rest had 

 starved to death or had been moved out to where range forage was 

 available but the expense of returning them was not warranted. 

 This is in contrast to the results presented in this bulletin for the 

 same range under as bad or worse drought conditions, when the area 

 was being handled under methods adjusted in part, at least, to pre- 

 serve permanence in the industry through drought periods. 



RECURRENCE OF DROUGHT. 



The effect on the cattle business of the combined factors which 

 together constitute what is generally understood as a " drought " has 

 been outlined. The heavy losses, retarded growth of stock, low calf 

 crop, heavy expense, range depreciation, and worry to the ow^ners 

 during such a period obviously warrant maximum effort to anticipate 

 the recurrence of drought periods and the consequent reduction in 

 range forage production. Eecorcls covering a period long enough to 

 do this with certainty are not available, but an analysis of the rain- 

 fall and other records at hand and of past experience helps in ex- 

 plaining management later suggested to meet drought conditions. 



Precipitation data for two stations — El Paso, Tex., and State 

 'College, N. Mex. — From 1886 to 1919, inclusive, except records which 

 are lacking for State College in 1890 and 1891, are given in Table 2.^ 

 These data include the annual precipitation and the amount received 



the name of Jornada del Muerto (the journey of Death) from the Spaniards in the early 

 days because of the many people who had died of thirst in traveling over the area. It is 

 here that the old Santa Fe trail came out on the plain,, leaving the valley of the Rio 

 Grande near Fort Selden because of the narrow, rocky gorge of the river farther north, 

 and ran some 90 miles over the dry plain to a point just south of San Marcial, N. Mex. 

 ^ Data from Reports of the U. S. Weather Bureau and Bulletin 113, New Mexico 

 College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, Climate in Relation to Crop Adaptation in 

 New Mexico, by Charles E. Ldnney and Fabian Garcia, 1918. 



