26 FOEAGE CONDITIONS ON NOETHEEN BOEDEE OF GEE AT BASIN. 



summer, when they yield much feed consisting of short-lived annual 

 plants differing very materially both in kind and quality from the 

 grasses which grow at this season in regions of more copious and 

 equable rainfall. It is well known that Indian wheat (Plantago fasti- 

 gata), Nuttall's vetch {Astragalus niittallii), and similar weed}' plants 

 play a very important part in the economy of stock raising in the 

 deserts of the Southwest. Here also we have a desert range which 

 produces a large and comparatively abundant crop in early spring, 

 forming at least much sheep pasture, concerning which but little is 

 known aside from the information derived from an occasional state- 

 ment and description by observing ranchers. These are some of the 

 economic questions that might be studied on local representative areas 

 like this one. The purely scientific questions, whose bearing upon 

 practical ones seldom can be property appreciated, are altogether too 

 numerous to be considered. 



RANGE CONDITIONS. 



The condition of the lowland pastures and meadows has been briefly 

 spoken of elsewhere. These areas are at the present time almost invari- 

 ably the property of private individuals, and consequently under their 

 direct control and management. The bottom lands which still remain 

 open to settlement are so situated that no water is available for their 

 irrigation, the control of water in the streams being in the hands of the 

 owners of the first ranches settled. Inasmuch as the supply is scarcely 

 sufficient for the use of these first comers, there is no inducement to 

 the prospective settler to take up the other open-range bottom land, 

 although it may be equally as productive. If convenient to water 

 holes, these areas are always closely grazed and present a very unprom- 

 ising appearance. No open-range lowland was seen on the whole trip 

 which had much feed upon it excepting that consisting of the tough and 

 persistent salt grass. Everything else had been cropped closely. In 

 many localities cattle were apparently subsisting on this grass. 



The more favored and protected areas under private control, although 

 altogether too closely pastured, fare much better than the open range. 

 As stated before, these furnish the native hay of the region during the 

 summer and the pasturage of the strong cattle during the winter. The 

 principal feed is found, not on the areas actually cut, but among the 

 willows, along ditches, and in low swampy areas which remain uncut. 

 These, although usually small, amount to many acres in the aggregate 

 on seven or eight square miles of meadow. The shrubbery and tule 

 (Scirpus lacustris) also furnish shelter during severe weather. It is 

 needless to say that these areas are taxed to their full capacity. A 

 piece of ground from which a crop of hay is removed during the sum- 

 mer will not usually maintain its productiveness in any region if every 

 particle of vegetation remaining is pastured off during the fall and 

 winter seasons. It is only under conditions of the most favorable 



