6 BULLETIN 749, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
and summer. It is not necessary to have very much water on winter 
ranges if snow is available. Pure, fresh water should be provided 
wherever possible, but in the Southwest it is often necessary to 
utilize rain water caught in large storage reservoirs. The goats 
drink this readily when once accustomed to it. 
Deep wells must sometimes be drilled on southwestern ranges if 
there is to be a supply of water throughout the year. The cost of 
such operations is often prohibitive considering the amount of forage 
available in the locality. When this is true such areas are some- 
times used only during the rainy seasons and when stored rain water 
can be used. 
MANAGEMENT OF THE GOAT RANGE. 
Most goat ranges are used throughout the year. This and the 
general practice of driving the goats out from a corral at the ranch 
headquarters and back every day for months or throughout the 
vear have been largely responsible for such a deterioration of the 
range as to cause a widespread belief that any grazing by goats is 
extremely destructive to range. The fault is largely in the methed 
of management, which with large herds is sure to concentrate graz- 
ing to the point of overstocking and to cause continued premature 
grazing. Where a similar practice has been followed in the manage- 
ment of cattle and sheep, the range has been similarly depleted. 
The remedy lies in working out a plan of grazing which will give 
the vegetation a chance to grow sufficiently to maintain itself. To 
do this on an area which is grazed throughout the year necessitates 
hight stocking, at least during the main growing season of the impor-_ 
tant forage plants. Investigation and practical tests have shown that 
a better plan is to divide the range into three areas, one for spring, 
another for summer and fall, and a third for winter. Dividing 
the range for seasonal use so as best to meet the needs of the forage 
and of the goats and distributing the grazing mone evenly over the 
range make possible the maintenance of the forage under heavier 
grazing and the reservation of suitable feed for the most critical 
periods of the year. 
DIVISION GF THE RANGE. 
Spring range-—During the period of kidding and immediately 
afterwards more than during any other period of the year the does 
and kids need plenty of green, tender feed and plenty of water. For 
this reason there should be an abundance of grass and weed forage 
on the Indding range, but there should also be some browse to pro- 
vide tender, green twigs in case drought or a late seasen prevents 
a suflicient growth of grass. 
