NEEDS OF THE REGION. 39 
meteorological conditions as affecting the growth of forage plants; a 
study of the native vegetation in its relation to the stock industry, 
and such other problems as may present themselves during the prose- 
cution of the investigations. 
The land set aside for the experiments is well adapted to this pur- 
pose. Being located ina typical grazing area and having been excess- 
ively pastured for a number of years, any advantage gained by treat- 
ment will point to methods of renovating denuded ranges. The land 
is described in the Government surveys as Sec. 23, T. 20 N., R. 20 E, 
and is locally known as the Babcock headquarters section, on account 
of the corrals located there. It hasan altitude of approximately 5,000 
feet. The region was gone over rather hurriedly in June. At this 
time there was no feed. Although the snow was still lying on the 
ground in deep drifts, the tract had already been pastured this season, 
for at that time none of the land was inclosed. Mr. J.S. Cotton, who 
has been placed in immediate charge of the work, reports that grasses 
have been nearly exterminated over a large part of the tract. The 
section, being located on the line of travel to and from the high moun- 
tains, has been grazed twice each season, in June and October, fora 
number of years. The soil is badly packed and cut by the flocks of 
sheep which have tramped over the ground while it was still wet from 
melting snows. In many places the soil has begun to wash badly. 
While this is rather an extreme case of denudation, it nevertheless 
represents the exact condition of much of the range country at the 
present time, and shows what much more of it will become shortly 
if present methods are pursued. Any success in reestablishing the 
grass cover will be extremely important for all highland pasture 
regions. | 
Mr. Benson most aptly expresses the necessity for this work, as well 
as the needs of the region in general, in a letter to the Agrostologist, 
as follows: 
The shortening of summer pasture by forest reserve regulations and the overgraz- 
ing by sheep of the remaining pastures, coupled with the greatly increasing alfalfa 
production in the irrigated valleys to supplement the winter ranges, make the sum- 
mer range more and more disproportionate to the winter range, until the important 
question now is, ‘‘ How much stock can you carry through the summer?’’ and not 
what it has heretofore been in this country, ‘‘ How are you fixed for hay? And how 
much stock can you winter?’’ Therefore it becomes very important to know what 
grasses or forage plants will do the best and yield the greatest amount of good pasture. 
In the Blue and the Warner mountains the main pfoblem is one of 
hay. production. The winters here are more severe and stock must 
be fed for longer periods each year. Of course, the summer feed is 
also very short at times on account of the thousands of sheep which 
summer in these mountains. But the communities established here have 
managed in a measure to reserve some feed for themselves by estab- 
lishing ‘* dead lines” against sheep and by maintaining them at times 
with force. 
