DRY FARMING CONGRESS. 



239 



are exterminated, poisonous plants are eradicateid and an era' of improvement 

 has apparently been inaugurated directly due to a recognition of the fact 

 that the Anglo-Saxon must have proprietary interest in land if he is to be 

 expected to improve its condition. 



In unhappy contrast to the upbuilding of pastoral Australia is the re- 

 verse process everywhere evident in our own western states. The spolia- 

 tion which has resulted, inevitably, from the lack of laws having for their 

 object a saving administration of the range country, has resulted in a 

 gradual but sure decline of its carrying capacity. In some districts, es- 

 pecially where, under stress of overgrazing, the soil is easily eroded by 

 rainfall, this damage can never be repaired; in others, restriction of graz- 

 ing, reseeding, and other remedial measures may effect a large measure of 

 restoration. 



As to what these remedial measures shall be in the United States 

 there is of course great difference of opinion, influenced in part by the 

 interests of those concerned and in part by ignorance of the problem 

 itself. 



Principles on Which Sound Grazing Land Laws Must Rest. 



Successful grazing range laws must of necessity rest upon two kinds 

 of knowledge — knowledge of the range itself — the forages that it bears, 

 their habits of growth and reproduction, their food value for animals, the 

 classification of grazing country into different grades, and the carrying 

 capacity and endurance of these different kinds of range. This is a subject 

 the study of which within the past few years has been vigorously entered 

 upon by various economic botanists, especially by certain of the State Ex- 

 periment Stations and by the United States Department of Agriculture. 



The second sort of knowledge required is that derived from legisla- 

 tive experience in dealing with purely grazing lands elsewhere. The re- 

 sults of such experience are to be found in Australia probably more than 

 in any other modern country. 



Australian experience, considered together with the traditions of our 

 own land laws points to the practicability in the United States of the 

 stockman's homestead or long term leasehold in pastoral districts. The 

 homestead idea, long-tried and well approved in this country is, briefly, 

 that a settler shall be granted enough territory to afford him a living — ■ 

 enough and no more. 



The Meaning of the Homestead. 



As applied to the Mississippi Valley a homestead meant 160 acres of 

 land, this arda being found in the average instance sufficient for a farming 

 family. But when the tide of immigration pushed west of the 100th meri- 

 dian into the semi-arid regions it was found either that 160 acres with 

 water was worth a great deal more or that 160 acres without water was 

 worth vastly less than that same area back in the Mississippi Valley. 



The far greater value of irrigated lands has been recognized and 

 provided for under the terms of the Newlands Act, and, according to the 

 productive capacity of the lands developed by the Reclamation Service, 



