12 Western Live-stock Management 



plains and valleys during July and August, and in this 

 season all ranchmen run their stock in the mountains if 

 possible. Green grass in midsummer is very helpful to 

 all kinds of live-stock, but is imperative for ewes and 

 lambs, hence the very keen interest of the sheepmen in 

 the administration of the Forest Reserves. Owing to 

 severe spring and fall storms in the mountains, the sea- 

 son on the summer ranges is rarely longer than four oi; 

 five months. 



Winter ranges are those on which the grazing is best in 

 the winter or in the spring and fall. The term "winter 

 range" is used throughout the West, but about the only 

 place where the grass is really best in midwinter is in 

 certain parts of Arizona and New Mexico. Elsewhere 

 "spring and fall" range would describe the condition more 

 accurately, since outside of the mountains and high 

 mountain valleys the best grazmg is at these seasons. If 

 the grass is allowed to mature and the snowfall is light, 

 it will furnish fair feed all winter. The sage-brush and 

 other shrubs will also help, especially with hungry sheep, 

 but outside of Arizona and New Mexico, these ranges 

 cannot be depended on to carry the stock through the 

 winter unless supplemented with hay. The usual system 

 is four months on hay in the winter, two months spring 

 grazing on the lower altitudes, or "winter ranges," four 

 months in the mountains on the "summer range," and 

 then back on the "winter range" for two months' fall 

 grazing. There are some exceptions to this but in no case 

 does the stock run on the same land throughout the year. 



Range grasses. 



Most of the ranges outside of the mountains are cov- 

 ered with sage-brush, especially in the more northern 



