CONDITION AND PLANTS OF THE RANGE. 15 
and the open-range question i is here practically a thing of the past. The 
ereater part of this area is still unfenced, and the boundaries of the 
different possessions are only appr aimately maintained, but much of 
the land is being fenced, section by section, which permits systematic 
pasturing. This change has yielded results far beyond the expecta- — 
tions of the ranchers. 
In one case which came under observation it was estimated by a 
rancher that the land under his control had increased in grazing capac- 
ity about 50 per cent during the past two years, with no decrease in 
the number of cattle carried on the entire area. One section is pas- 
tured ata time, and grass is allowed to attain considerable growth 
before being pastured, instead of being grazed close to the ground all 
_the time. 
In another instance in the same vicinity a year’s rest of two anda 
half sections of pasture land had yielded marvelous results. This 
land had formerly been grazed by sheep, and the pasture had become 
so short that the owner disposed of it to the present occupant, who 
proposed to embark in the cattle business. He allowed his land to 
rest one year with practically no stock upon it; the gain in feed: was 
remarkable. 
Much of this land is used as winter ranges for sheep, which are 
either herded during the summer months in the mountains to the west- 
ward or pastured on the fallow lands in the wheat-growing regions to 
the east. This treatment will probably increase the capacity of these 
ranges to a maximum in a few years, provided the summer season of 
rest is sufficiently prolonged. It is very important in handling these 
lands as winter pastures not to keep stock on them too late in the 
spring. In this region the growth of vegetation occurs only in the 
spring, and stock are sometimes unable, on account of snow, to get 
into the mountains soon enough to allow much recuperation after the 
season of grazing before the advent of the dry season, which begins 
not later than June. 
CONDITION AND PLANTS OF THE RANGE. 
The best range seen on the entire trip, and indeed the best open 
range the writer has seen since the early nineties (with the possible 
exception of the Clear Creek region in the Big Horn Mountains of 
Wyoming in 1898), was that of the Okanogan hills in northern Wash- 
ington. The generally good condition of the feed in this region is due 
to the fact that the country for various reasons has not been over- 
stocked. <A large part of this area is occupied by the Colville Indian 
Reservation, and some of the lands along the river are taken up by 
Indian allotments which have not been improved to their full capacity 
for hay production. The length of the winters, the heavy snowfall, 
