22 STOCK RANGES OF NORTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. 



be undertaken in a practical manner and one giving promise of suc- 

 cess. The mere scattering of seed of a desirable species without 

 preparation of soil or further attention is not likely to afford material, 

 if any, improvement. It should also be borne in mind, in this connec- 

 tion, that the humidity of atmosphere and soil are important fac- 

 tors in the problem, and that if by the destruction of the forests and 

 woodlands, which attract moisture, induce precipitation, and conserve 

 the springs from which streams and rivers arise, the valleys, at pres- 

 ent moist and fertile, are reduced to the condition of aridity met with 

 in some other regions of the State, the chance of increasing the stock- 

 carrying capacity will be destroyed. 



To get rid of the tussocks formed by tufted hair grass and Cali- 

 fornia fescue, to remove weeds, and to give the new forage plants a 

 fair chance, the ground should be plowed in the spring to a sufficient 

 depth to bury the turf thoroughly. It should then be allowed to 

 summer fallow for a period, in order that the sod may rot thoroughly. 

 The surface will require harrowing during the summer, probably 

 several times, in order to destroy successive crops of annual weeds 

 and to kill out the roots of perennial sedges and rushes. Sowing 

 should be performed as early in the fall as possible, that the seed may 

 benefit by the warm soil and the full rainfall of the growing season. 



The preparation of a permanent pasture is greatly facilitated if a 

 nurse crop of wheat, barley, or oats is grown, as it protects the 

 young grasses during spells of north wind, frost, etc. It also utilizes 

 the soil while the other plants are getting a start, and is of great value 

 in keeping weeds in check. This nurse crop is preferably grown for 

 soiling, rather than for hay or seed, as otherwise it shades the young- 

 plants of the permanent crop for too long a period and takes too much 

 nutriment out of the soil. For the same reason only a thin sowing of 

 grain is made, half of the usual quantity of seed being considered 

 quite sufficient. In some places rye or wheat are considered the most 

 desirable nurse crops. Oats occupy the ground too long, it is claimed, 

 and are too easily ''lodged" to be satisfactory. 



If the plowing up of the wild meadows is considered too expensive 

 or is impracticable, the simpler but much less satisfactory method of 

 sowing new grasses among the old may be resorted to. In this case 

 only about one-third of the seed required for a new pasture will be 

 needed. The pasture must be thoroughly harrowed at the time of the 

 first fall rains in order to preserve a seed-bed in which the new seeds 

 can germinate. 



In the East and elsewhere it is found advantageous in the prepara- 

 tion of a permanent pasture to sow a mixture of different species of 

 grasses instead of only one kind, for the following reasons: Some of 

 the best forage grasses do not make a crop until tlie second or even 

 the third year; others, while in themselves valuable, do not stool-out 

 or cover the ground completely, so that other and low, prostrate spe- 



