UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



In Cooperation with the 



North Dakota Agricultural College 



DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1170 



Washington, D. C T July, 1923 



EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT SYSTEMS AND INTENSITIES OF 



GRAZING UPON THE NATIVE VEGETATION AT THE 



NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS FIELD STATION 



By 



J. T. SARYIS, Assistant Agronomist, Office of Dry-Land Agriculture Investigations 

 Bureau of Plant Industry 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction 1 



flu of th» Grazing Experiment 3 



Land* Used for the Experiment S 



Relation of Precipitation to Native Forage Production 7 



Deferred and Rotation System of Grazing 8 



Period of Grazing and Cattle Used 10 



Weighing the Caltl 11 



Gains tf the Cattl 12 



Percentage of Vegetation Annually Removed by Grazing < IS 



Meatare of Efficiency of a Pasture or System of Grazing 17 



Botanical Studies in Connection with the Experiment 19 



Other Studies Bearing upon the Experiment 33 



Soil Mtstar 35 



PalatabiOty of the Vegetation 35 



Causes of the Deterioration of Native Pastures by Grazing with Cattle 38 



Grazing Capacity Based upon the Native Vegetation 39 



Salient Points Revealed by the Grazing Experiment 42 



Conclusions and Summary •••■••••••>' 42 



WASHINGTON 



GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 



1923 



