38 CIRCULAR 491, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



bined with overgrazing and untimely grazing often caused by the 

 lack of supplementary forage. Authorities agree that overgrazing 

 has been an important damaging factor on pastures and range land, 

 Evans (21), Hanson et al. {33), Jardine (37), Kirk (40), Samp- 

 son (S3), and Talbot (66). Kesults of surveys conducted under dif- 

 ferent degrees of grazing and nongrazing in 1935 and 1936 (-58) 

 and the reports of Weaver and Albertson (70) indicate that the ad- 

 verse climatic conditions often were equally if not more damaging 

 than close grazing. It is evident, however, that excessive grazing 

 is always detrimental, especially during severe drought. 



Eeseeding, contour furrowing, shrub eradication, and grazing con- 

 trol have been suggested as methods of improving native pastures 

 badly depleted by adverse climatic conditions and overgrazing. Ke- 

 sults of ecological surveys conducted cooperatively by the Division 

 of Forage Crops and Diseases and other State and Federal agencies 

 in the Plains in 1935 (58) and 1936 (60), indicate that most pastures 

 in the region still contain sufficient plants to provide a nucleus for 

 rapid recovery under favorable climatic conditions. Albertson (/) 

 reported that buffalo grass rapidly reclaimed areas bared by drought. 

 A few pastures are so badly denuded or deeply covered by silt that 

 several favorable seasons will be required for recovery to take place. 

 However, it is possible that many of these pastures may be plowed, 

 thinking they are irreparably damaged when in reality most of them 

 will probably recover fairly fast with the advent of better growing 

 conditions. 



RESEEDING PASTURES OR RANGE 



With certain definite exceptions and limitations, the methods ten- 

 tatively suggested for use in reseeding cultivated land may be at- 

 tempted on range pastures. However, artificial reseeding of depleted 

 ranges is much more difficult to accomplish successfully than seeding 

 clean stubble lands. The old surviving plants of grass, shrubs, and 

 associated weeds often offer too much competition to the younger, 

 weaker, and slower growing grass seedlings. Because of these and 

 other adverse conditions including unfavorable weather and the use 

 of unadapted strains, many past attempts to reseed ranges by arti- 

 ficial means have generally resulted in failure. A few notable or 

 partial successes have been experienced. The possibilities have not 

 been fully determined. 



In 1897 Williams (72) reported that an excellent pasture was ob- 

 tained in South Dakota by collecting western wheatgrass and filling 

 in the bare places with it. He reported that an experiment was made 

 at the Kansas (Garden City) Station in 1892. A badly damaged 

 pasture was heavily disked, sown to a mixture of orchard grass, 

 meadow fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, timothy, redtop, clover, and 

 alfalfa, and packed with a surface roller. He stated that the seed 

 germinated quickfy and the tame grasses made an excellent start, but 

 that by September the wild grasses had crowded them out. This 

 result is not surprising as all the grasses included in this trial have 

 proved to be poorly adapted to the dry Plains. 



Forsling and Dayton (22) concluded in 1931 that artificial range 

 reseedings on western mountain range lands would be successful 

 on areas with rainfall, soil, and other growing conditions above the 



