6 BULLETIN 1170, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 



years previous to 1915 had been used as hay land. Legislative 

 action, both State and National, made it possible for the United 

 States Department of Agriculture to obtain this section in lieu of 

 two other sections of public land in North Dakota. This land when 

 obtained in 1915 was considered worth about $35 per acre. 



The section is level prairie with the exception of about 100 

 acres in the northwest corner, which is rolling and cut by ravines. 

 This rough land is practically all in the reserve pasture and is not 

 included in the area used in the experiment, the soil of which does 

 not differ naturally from other vast areas in the western part of 

 North Dakota. The first objection that might be raised regarding 

 this section is that it is too good for grazing. This may be true, 

 but it is not too good for a grazing experiment. No one connected 

 with this experiment would advise using similar land for grazing 

 purposes, especially when rough land is available. The land is so 

 uniform that the pastures are as comparable as it could be hoped to 

 obtain them. Uniformity of the land and uniformity of the vegeta- 

 tion are the conditions that are absolutely necessary in order 

 properly to conduct an experiment of this kind and secure reliable 

 results. It is necessary to eliminate all unknown factors as far as 

 possible. The factors of uniformity of land and vegetation need 

 cause no special difficulty in connection with a consideration of the 

 results obtained in this experiment. 



Another question that arises in regard to the experiment is, will 

 the results obtained be applicable to other parts of the Great Plains ? 

 It should be recognized that the present experiment is designed to 

 determine the effects of different systems and intensities of grazing 

 upon the native vegetation and the cattle dependent upon it. The 

 results of this experiment should apply to any area of land in the 

 northern Great Plains having a similar plant cover that produces 

 enough vegetation to be of grazing value. The unit area of land 

 required for the best system of grazing will vary in different locali- 

 ties and can not be determined in any one area for all sections. The 

 value of the results of this experiment is dependent upon the deter- 

 mination of the best system of grazing to follow in order to maintain 

 the range at a high degree of productiveness. Any system that will I 

 accomplish this will also improve a range that has already been de- 

 pleted by overgrazing. It is believed that the results recorded in 

 these pages will apply to most of western North Dakota and South 

 Dakota and to parts of Wyoming and Montana. 



This land in 1915 would have been considered in excellent condi- 

 tion for grazing, not because of the very favorable season, but be- 

 cause of the normal density of the vegetation. The area had not, 

 at least within recent years, been depleted by overgrazing. The ex- 

 periment was, therefore, started on land that was in a high state of 

 production of native forage. The problem was not to bring back 

 into a state of productiveness an area that had been depleted by 

 overgrazing, but rather to determine the best method of utilizing a 

 satisfactory stand of forage. In order to study the other side of the 

 problem it was first necessary to overgraze a pasture. This was de- 

 signed to be done in the 30-acre pasture. This pasture is still being 

 heavily grazed, and it will be some time before it is ready for the 



