74 



DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



until it has become an important feature of range management and 

 promises to be more so in the future. 



To get a better line on the economic value of drift and division fences 

 to range management and stock, as well as to work out efficient methods 

 of construction for the adverse conditions under which fences must be 

 maintained, a general study was made in 1913 of 320 separate drift and 

 division fences, a total of over 2000 miles, under widely varying conditions. 



The data secured show the net result to be: An average increase of 10 

 to 15 percent in carrying capacity of the range; from to 100 percent im- 

 provement in the grade of stock; 5 per cent average improvement in con- 

 dition of stock; 5 to 10 percent average increase in the calf crop; and 

 an average decrease of approximately 40 percent in the expense for riding 

 and looking after the stock during the grazing season to which the fences 

 apply. 



The distribution of stock within the controlled area has been greatly 

 improved by development of well distributed watering places and by the use 

 of carefully selected salting places to supplement fences and water. 



A careful comparative study of sheep unmolested in large range pas- 

 tures and under the old methods of herding in large bands driven to and 

 from a central camp each day, showed the advantage of the pasture 

 handling to be from 25 to 50 percent in carrying capacity, an increase of 8 

 to 10 pounds in the weight of five months old lambs and a decrease from 

 an average loss of 3 percent to V 2 of one percent. 



But the time was not ripe for sheep pastures, proof against predatory 

 animals, on a large scale for the rugged territory used by sheep. 



The alternative was to improve the method of range herding so as to 

 approach pasture handling as nearly as was economically possible. 



The result is that perhaps 50 percent of the 7,560,186 sheep on National 

 Forest range in 1914 were handled under what is called the "new system," 

 "bedding out system," "blanket system" or "burro system" of herding, 

 which simply means that the herder stays with his sheep rather than with 

 his camp; controls them by quietly directing the leaders during the day 

 and sleeps with them where they happen to stop for the night. 



Carefully collected figures on weights and carrying capacity under 

 various range conditions show this system to mean 5 pound heavier lambs 

 and an increase of 10 to 15 percent in carrying capacity over the old method 

 •of range herding. 



The essential, fundamental principle of range management to be em- 

 phasized here is the importance of controlling the stock and eliminating all 

 unnecessary handling, as well as congregating in large herds, whether 

 cattle, horses, sheep or goats. 



Most of you know from experience in feeding, the value of the in- 

 dividual pen and quiet handling. The principle involved in feeding is of 

 even greater importance in the efficient management of the five million 

 acres of natural grazing lands. 



That this has been more fully realized is due to lack of thought and 



