44 STOCK RANGES OF NORTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. 



Formation of a seed bed. — The advantage gained by allowing a 

 great deal of grass to go to seed is not only the amount of seed scat- 

 tered, but also the formation of a seed bed of decaying leaves and 

 stems, which encourages germination and protects the young seedlings. 



Preserve the timber and brush. — Next in importance to preservation 

 of the forage plants is the conservation of moisture in the soil and the 

 preservation of the water supply. The ranges which we are discuss- 

 ing lie along the headwaters of the main streams of the coast, and 

 the preservation of a perennial flow of water in these streams is of 

 as much importance to places many miles away as to the ranges 

 themselves. 



In their desire to increase the carrying capacity of the range many 

 men commence first to clear the land of all timber and brush with a 

 view to producing just so many more acres of pasture. Unfortu- 

 nately, however, by clearing away all the brush and timber from the 

 gulches and springs the moisture content of the soil is diminished, 

 the available drinking water for stock is rendered less accessible, and 

 there is probability of greater financial loss than profit from the 

 labor expended. In the Redwood belt it is noticeable that where 

 both timber and brush have been cleared away springs and small 

 streams have been dried up, although the conditions for the preserva- 

 tion of perennial springs and streams are more favorable there than 

 on the upland ranges. Not only is the summer water supply dimin- 

 ished by removing timber and brush from the headwaters of the 

 streams, but the soil on the steep slopes washes awa} T with much 

 greater rapidity, owing to lack of protection from tiercel} 7 beating 

 rains, thus increasing the depth and steepness of the canyons, which 

 in turn facilitates the washing away of soil from the inland slopes. 

 In Europe and elsewhere much valuable land has been ruined in this 

 manner. 



Maximum versus optimum stocking. — While it is impossible with 

 our present inrperfect knowledge of the facts of the case to deter- 

 mine the exact difference between the maximum and the optimum of 

 range capacity in any case, it seems certain that a very slight reduc- 

 tion in size of the "band" of stock to a point below the maximum 

 would soon make an appreciable improvement in the carrying eapacitj 7 

 of the range and would be a step toward its renewal. 



The practical stockman will naturally inquire whether the result- 

 ing gain would be worth the sacrifice of even that number of head of 

 stock, representing just so much hard cash deducted from the annual 

 profits of the range. If it would not, he will not be likely to take any 

 further notice of the suggestion. In order to get as accurate an 

 answer to this question as is possible without direct experiment, let 

 us take a hypothetical case by way of illustration. 



We will suppose that we are dealing with a range of 1,800 acres, 

 stocked to its maximum carrying capacity, and that this maximum is 



