12 Western Lrve-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 or 
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 grazing 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 
