B. P. I.— 18 Agros — 96 



FORAGE CONDITIONS ON THE NORTHERN BORDER 

 OF THE GREAT BASIN. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The area of our public grazing lands has decreased so steadily with 

 the tide of westward emigration that the stock industry, which once 

 flourished on the magnificent pastures of the public ranges, is now 

 driven into situations either too arid or too rugged for the husband- 

 man's use. From a natural tendency to increase rather than to dimin- 

 ish the number of stock has resulted a condition of shortage of feed, 

 which was foretold years ago by those who were then studying the 

 treatment of the ranges. This condition has awakened great activity 

 in investigations of questions pertaining to the preservation of the 

 feed supply of the public pasture lands. So numerous are the requests 

 for information, advice, and suggestions for the improvement and 

 management of the ranges which are received in the office of the Agros- 

 tologist that it is very difficult to give all of them the attention which 

 they deserve. 



In response to one of these requests the writer and Mr. E. L. Morris 

 were commissioned to make a tour of a portion of the ranges of 

 northern Nevada and southeastern Oregon for the purpose of determin- 

 ing the condition of the forage supply and ascertaining, if possible, some 

 method of treatment of the range and pasture lands which would tend 

 to increase the efficiency of the pastures and hay meadows. 



A request from the secretary of the Eastern Wyoming Wool Growers' 

 Association, that a representative of the office visit the midsummer 

 meeting of that body for the purpose of addressing the members in 

 attendance on range and forage plant problems, was received prior to 

 our departure for the field. Arrangements were therefore made to 

 attend the meeting of this association, held at Douglas, Wyo., July 10, 

 11, and 12 to give such information and advice as seemed best calcu- 

 lated to be of service to those in attendance and to acquaint them with 

 the work of the office of the Agrostologist. The interest which nat- 

 urally exists in forage and range problems was abundantly exhibited 

 in the meetings and by the attitude of the members toward forage 

 problems as they came before them. The programme itself exhibited 

 this interest in no mistakable terms, for there were three places allotted 



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