RANGE MANAGEMENT ON THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 15 



SHORTER GRAZING PERIOD AND MORE STOCK. 



The question frequently comes up of shortening an established graz- 

 ing period and proportionately increasing the number of stock. If 

 the established season is such that the best and fullest use is being- 

 made of the range in question,' any considerable shortening of the 

 grazing period will result in waste of forage or overgrazing of the 

 forage plants preferred by the class of stock grazed. If the estab- 

 lished grazing period is not such as to result in the best and fullest 

 use of the range, the period should be changed and the grazing 

 capacity redetermined after careful inspection. It must be borne in 

 mind that plants have their periods of highest palatability and that 

 this varies for different important forage plants on the same area. 

 Shortening the grazing period, for example, on central Utah range 

 by an earlier close would result in great loss of elder 1 feed, which is 

 seldom eaten by sheep in this locality before the first heavy frost. A 

 number of browse species ordinarily are only lightly browsed before 

 the latter part of the season. To shorten a properly adjusted grazing 

 period by setting a later date of opening would likewise result in 

 waste of forage from many rapid-growing plants drying up or reach- 

 ing a stage of low palatability before grazing begins. The result in 

 either case would be a . decrease in the total feed furnished ; conse- 

 quently, an increase in stock proportionate to the reduction in graz- 

 ing period could not be made without danger of overgrazing. These 

 suggestions apply, of course, to range in normal condition. Ranges 

 partly or wholly depleted of the most desirable forage plants may 

 require a later date for opening the grazing season than the date for 

 the same range in normal condition. The sacrifice of forage from 

 rapid-growing plants is warranted if it will result in improvement 

 of the range by increasing the more desirable forage plants. 



Additional references {arranged chronologically) . 



Griffiths, D. A Protected Stock Range in Arizona. TJ. S. Bureau of Plant 

 Industry, Bulletin 177, 1910. 



Sampson, Arthur W. Range Improvement by Deferred and Rotation Grazing. 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bulletin 34, 1913. 



Sampson, Arthur W. Natural Revegetation of Range Lands Based upon 

 Growth Requirements and Life History of the Vegetation. U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture, Journal of Agricultural Research, vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 93-147, 

 Nov. 16, 1914. 



U. S. Forest Service, Office of Grazing Studies. ■ Notes on National Forest 

 Range Plants, Part I. Grasses, 1914. 



Wooton, E. O. Factors Affecting Range Management in New Mexico. IT. S. 

 Department of Agriculture, Bulletin 211, 1915. 



Jardine, James T. Improvement and Management of Native Pastures in the 

 West. IT. S. Department of Agriculture, Yearbook, 1915, pp. 299-310; Year- 

 book Separate 678. 



Jardine, James T., and Hurtt, L. C. Increased Cattle Production on South-. 

 western Ranges. IT. S. Department of Agriculture, Bulletin 588, 1917. 



Sampson, Arthur W., and Weyl, L. H. Range Preservation and Its Relation to 

 Erosion Control on Western Grazing Lands. IT. S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Bulletin 675, 1918. 



1 Elder (Sambucus microbotrys) . 



