74 BULLETIN 
grazing. Kanges that have been so destructively used as to support 
chiefly annual vegetation, can not be grazed without further dete- 
rioration. Such areas should be entirely closed to stock until the 
cover is clearly composed of plants of the second-weed stage. Strict 
application of the deferred grazing system should be applied on areas 
in the second-weed stage and the practice should be continued until 
the porcupine-grass-yellow-brush consociation has attained its maxi- 
mum productivity. After that the deferred grazing plan should be 
rotated so that each part of the allotment is grazed after seed ma- 
turity at least once every 4 or 5 years. In general, there is little or 
no justification for handling the lands so as to maintain a more or 
less pure wheat-grass cover. If a good forage crop is to be main- 
tained, however, the practice of using established bed grounds, of too 
close herding, the excessive use of dogs, and other practices which 
tend to destroy the vegetation must be avoided as far as possible. 
In using the plant indicators as a guide to determine whether or 
not the range is in need of a change in the management it is well to 
adopt some definite means of ascertaining the changes that are taking 
place in the plant cover. While carefully selected plots, the vegeta- 
tion of which is accurately mapped, are desirable, a careful systematic 
ocular estimate of the composition and density of the vegetation will 
suffice in practice. This can be made in various ways. A reliable 
method, however, is to select carefully some four or five typical areas 
over the allotment and lay out a plot, let us say, of 2 square rods on 
each area. After securely staking and tying in the plot to insure its 
relocation in future, list the chief indicator species as well as the 
most important forage plants, either the local or Latin name being- 
used, and estimate closely the comparative density of each. Greater 
accuracy both in listing and in estimating comparative density is se- 
cured by running a cord around the corner stakes of the plot and 
across the plot where the vegetation is dense or forms a rank 
growth. The value of this work is greatly enhanced by collecting and 
preparing for the herbarium the main indicator and forage species 
found on the selected area, and by procuring good photographs show- 
ing the character and density of the vegetation additional features 
of high value may be shown. 1 
The plants here listed as indicators of range conditions are not 
necessarily the same as those of other regions in the West. As a rule 
the same genera will be represented, but in many instances the species 
will be different. As pointed out, reliable indicators of the more seri- 
ous stages of overgrazing of any region may be determined by study- 
1 In photographing plots it should be the aim to locate, by means of permanently 
established stakes, the exact place and angle where the original view is procured. Sub- 
sequent photographs may then be taken showing the progressive development of the 
vegetation over the same surface. 
