64 BULLETIN 791, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 
Owing to the stock working the seed into the ground as the ma- 
ture herbage is grazed, better reproduction from seed is procured on 
the area upon which the grazing is deferred than on that protected 
from grazing yearlong. The vegetative reproduction, on the other 
hand, is the same in the case of either treatment. 
Obviously, the increase in density that occurred on the protected 
area here shown can not be termed true succession. A large number 
of running rootstocks of such plants as yarrow, sweet sage, low 
pea vine, and the like, as well as the weakened inconspicuous tufts 
of the grasses, existed before the stock was excluded, and the shoots 
began to appear as soon as sufficient food had been elaborated to 
stimulate the buds to growth. Therefore, the practice of protecting 
the lands from stock throughout the year will result in quite as 
rapid revegetation by vegetative means as will deferred grazing. 
Reproduction from seed, especially in large-seeded species, however, 
is much more vigorous on areas where the grazing is deferred until 
the seed crop has ripened. Hence deferred grazing has all of the 
advantages of total protection and none of the disadvantages, such, 
for example, as low or negative reproduction from seed, and waste 
of forage during the period required for revegetation. 
JUDICIOUS GRAZING. 
In any well-planned method of grazing designed to handle the 
lands as permanent grazing areas, two objects must be kept in mind. 
One is the cropping of the herbage at a time in the season when 
growth and reproduction will be interfered with as little as possible. 
The other is the utilization of the forage crop when it is most needed 
and when the herbage is palatable and nutritious. 
At first thought it would appear that the requirements of the 
vegetation and the requirements of the stock are rather antagonistic, 
but if proper precautions are taken, this need not be the case. Few 
plants, even when grazed closely, are appreciably weakened by being 
grazed early in the season, 1 let us say once in 3 or -1 years. Repeated 
close early grazing, on the other hand, soon destroys the cover. 
Through the application of the deferred-and-rotation grazing system, 
which provides for the cropping of a portion of the range early in the 
season only every third or fourth year, the vegetation will retain its 
vitality almost as well as when not utilized at all, provided, of 
course, that the number of stock carried is correctly estimated. 
Hence judicious grazing on a well- vegetated area disturbs the cover 
only to a slight extent. 
1 Early grazing may be defined as cropping of the herbage between the time that the 
flower stalk is " in the boot " or sheath, that is, on the verge of appearing, and the time 
of completion of the fertilization of the flowers, approximately between 2 and 4 weeks 
after growth has begun. 
