Handling of stock. 21 



proved condition, have been made the bases for ranches. These fav- 

 orable areas have consequently been cut out of the general range 

 source of supply. The second cause is dependent upon the first and 

 results from the overstocking of the range, giving the cattle but little 

 to feed upon during the winter. They therefore must have provision 

 made for them. In portions of Montana, Wyoming, and western 

 South Dakota it is customary to fence large areas of land on the gen- 

 eral mesa or prairie in order to protect the range until winter sets in. 

 No hay is cut in these fenced fields. The grass simply dries up in the 

 fall and the cattle graze it during the winter. In northern Nevada and 

 southeastern Oregon, however, the fenced areas occur on the bottom 

 lands, and they are made to serve the double purpose of furnishing a 

 crop of hay during the summer and pasturage during the winter. 

 Indeed, many of these fields were being pastured while we were in the 

 region in August. But more will be said concerning this later. The 

 reason for this difference in the use of the pastures in the two regions 

 is a simple one and results from local and natural conditions. The 

 mountain regions as a whole are unsuitable to winter pasturing, and 

 the desert mesa in this region furnishes so little feed that it scarcely 

 pays to fence and protect it during the summer. The only available 

 sources of pasturage during the winter, therefore, are the bottom 

 lands. They are also the only available native hay lands, and are 

 therefore forced to furnish both winter pasturage and hay. The 

 result of this double drain upon the land is too well known to need 

 any extensive comments. The result is just what one would expect — 

 both the pasture and the hay crop are rendered inferior by such treat- 

 ment. 



According to information received from ranchers scattered all the 

 way from Winnemucca to Ontario, the feeding season begins about the 

 1st of December and continues until the last of March. During the 

 remainder of the season the cattle "rustle" their living. Full feed- 

 ing, however, does not begin until after Christmas. From this time 

 on about two-thirds of the cattle receive a full ration of hay, the 

 remaining third finding their own living in the lowland pastures among 

 the tule (Scirpus lacustris) and willows and in other localities where it 

 was impossible or unprofitable to run a mower during the previous 

 summer. Of course, there is some growth of grass on the meadows 

 which were cut, and this also is pastured down closely. In this way 

 all cattle are provided for during the winter. They are either pastured 

 in the fields or fed hay, as their condition appears to demand. Usually 

 the steers and dry cows "rustle" for themselves in these pastures; but 

 the majority of the cows and all the calves are fed, the pasture herd 

 being continually worked over during the winter, for the purpose of 

 selecting those that need more feed than they are able to secure in the 

 meadows. 



