and 100 pounds of nitrogen per acre than with- 
out fertilizer (Holt and Wilson 1961). Apply- 
ing 67.5 pounds per acre of nitrogen on moun- 
tain range increased use from 15 to 73 percent 
during the season following treatment, and the 
carryover effect was significant during the sec- 
ond year (Smith and Lang 1958). 
Herbage Removal 
It has been well established that the quality 
of forage diminishes as the plants mature. 
Methods for minimizing old and for maximiz- 
ing new herbage include burning and intensi- 
fying grazing pressure. 
Fire is widely used, particularly in regions 
of moderate to heavy rainfall. Burning a pine- 
bluestem range in Mississippi during the win- 
ter increased the content of crude protein, ether 
extract, calcium, and phosphorus in new her- 
bage (Wahlenberg et al. 1939). On bluestem 
prairie in Kansas, burning in midspring in- 
creased both the crude protein and ash and de- 
creased the ether extract (Smith and Young 
1959). 
Effects of burning may vary considerably 
with season of treatment. In a comparison of 
late-winter, spring, and midsummer fires on 
pine-bluestem range, the protein content of 
herbage produced during the 30 days after fire 
was greatest for the summer burn and least 
for the winter burn (Grelen and Epps 1967). 
Also, in midwinter protein content was almost 
1.6 times greater for range burned the pre- 
vious summer than for that burned the pre- 
vious winter. These findings suggest that burn- 
ing different parts of a range unit at intervals 
from late winter until midsummer could pro- 
vide forage of relatively high quality through- 
out most of the growing season. Also, burning 
in midsummer and deferring use until winter 
could materially reduce requirements for pro- 
tein supplement. 
Burning destroys old herbage, thereby im- 
proving accessibility of new growth. With the 
insulating effect of litter reduced, the average 
soil temperature is higher during spring on 
burned than on unburned grassland. Hence, 
growth begins earlier on burned areas (Kucera 
and Ehrenreich 1962). 
Cattle usually prefer herbage on recent 
burns to that on unburned areas. On pine- 
bluestem range burned in 3-year rotations, 78 
percent of the herbage grown in the season fol- 
lowing fire was utilized (Duvall and Whitaker 
1964). In the second and third years after fire, 
use averaged only 31 and 18 percent. Similar 
findings have been reported for pine-wiregrass 
range (Shepherd et al. 1953) and tall-grass 
prairie (Aldous 1934). Thus, fire can help reg- 
ulate grazing distribution. 
20 
Digestibility of certain nutrients in forage 
may increase following fire. Spring burning of 
bluestem range resulted in greater apparent di- 
gestibility of crude fiber, dry matter, and ether 
extract (Smith et al. 1960). 
In trials with many range grasses, frequency 
of harvesting has been positively correlated 
with protein content of herbage (Newell and 
Keim 1947). Repeated clipping increased ether 
extract and phosphorus, as well as protein, in 
short-grass vegetation; it- decreased nitrogen- 
free extract, but had little effect on calcium, 
ash, or crude fiber (Dickson et al. 1640). 
These findings suggest that intense use dur- 
ing the growing season, like frequent clipping, 
limits accumulation of mature forage and may 
therefore improve quality. However, unless 
heavy grazing is alternated with periods of ei- 
ther deferment or rest, it is usually detrimen- 
tal to vegetation. Since quality diminishes on 
unused range, intense grazing is most benefi- 
cial where high-quality forage is urgently 
needed during the growing season and where 
mature herbage satisfies requirements during 
other periods. In the South, where protein con- 
tent of moderately grazed forage declines 
sharply after early summer, a system com- 
bining rotational burning and intensive use 
has been successful (Duvall and Whitaker 
1964). Grazing trials in other regions are pro- 
viding a growing list of cover types that toler- 
ate intense use for brief periods (Laycock 
1967; Springfield 19638). 
Seeding 
Seeding may benefit quality in various ways 
In Utah, the grazing season was more than 6 
weeks longer on seeded grass than on native 
vegetation (Passey and Winn 1953). Incorpo- 
rating seeded units into a management pro- 
gram for Colorado range prolonged the green- 
feed period and thereby increased weaning 
weights by an average of 32 pounds per calf 
(Currie 1966). Cattle grazing seeded western 
wheatgrass on southern Great Plains range re- 
quired less than half as much supplemental 
protein as those on unseeded range (Pearse et 
al. 1948). 
Grasses have been used almost exclusively in 
range seeding. Since the nutritive value of 
forbs frequently surpasses that of grasses, 
mixtures containing palatable forbs may im- 
prove quality more than grasses alone. For cat- 
tle grazing native Nebraska vegetation con- 
taining 31 percent forbs, these plants fur- 
nished 44 percent of the dry matter consumed 
but supplied greater proportions of the princi- 
pal nutrients: calcium, 59 percent; phosphorus, 
56 percent; soluble carbohydrates, 48 _ per- 
cent; and crude protein, 46 percent (Hoehne 
