R- U.S.N. 9/12 



-2- 



shallow- rooted, early-maturing annuals. They are thicker than they were. 

 They may cover almost the whole soil sxirface at the top of the season. 



\7hcn frost comes, those plants curl up and die and leave the bare 

 soil ex;)osed. Here and there, you may notice for the first time a few 

 aggressive drought- resistant, short-lived perennial grasses and weeds. 

 That stage of plant life might afford a little, poor forage, if you turned 

 the stock on it at the right tine. But let's hold our horses-and cattle. 



How v/e come to the second-weed stage of life on the range. The soil 

 is pretty well decomposed. Being moderately well filled with plants remains, 

 it is fairly moist. Under such conditions, a stand made up mostly of weeds, 

 with scattered mixtures of bunch grasses, take possession. There are not 

 enou^ grasses to form a sod, but the interlacing roots bind the soil 

 firmly. 



That second-weed stage prepares the way for the next set of plants 

 which form the final or top stage in the progressive development of the 

 range. Now the soil is in condition for the grass cover. 



In a vague, general way that is the usual process of change for 

 lower forms to higher plant life. 



Now let's turn o-ur cattle out on one of these higher types of 

 vegetation on the range. Sometimes I think cows and sheep are like people, 

 and sonetif.:es I think people are like cows and sheep. Remember, there are 

 a nimber of different kinds of plants. Some are better than others. Taste 

 better. At least, the animals seem to think so. They don't eat all alike. 

 They have their preferences. Taken by and large, they ekt th^ best first. 



That may be all right. As long as that high- type feed is not too 

 closely grazed, When the animals get to grazing the green feed of the 

 choice forage plants nearly as fast as it grows, they may get enough to eat 

 for the time being. Hov/ever, when they strip the leaves from a plant, 

 they rob it of its food factory. 



'-0U may not notice the change any one year. To the casual observer, 

 it looks like there was plenty of forage. You may not notice that the 

 best tjnoe of plants are becoming fewer and fewer. In a period of, say 

 five years, you may begin to realize that the better forage plants are rr.uch 

 ferver, if not all killed out. Their place has been taken by less desirable 

 grasses and weeds. 



"Less desirable" is a mild teim for some of these plants. Often, 

 poisonous weeds replace valuable ford plants. Then there may be a lot of 

 sheep or cattle killed outright. 



Anyway, you can see what happens if that killing off of the best 

 plants keeps up, \7hen the best are gone; the animals will take to the 

 next-best. And so on, down the line. All the time, the livestock are 

 getting less feed and poorer quality feed. Overgrazing has reversed the 

 order of development. Instead of going from lower to higher, the plant 

 life on the range is going from higher to lower. 



