10 BULLETIN 749, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
range being given protecticn from grazing until after seed maturit 
21 pt = = vy 
two years in every five. 
TABLE 1.—Part of summer-and-jall range to be used during each month through 
@ series of siz years under the dejerred and rotation system of grazing. 
- {Letters indicate parts of range.] 
arstayeia - Oe eae ha LS ge goles Ik Se | A B C Di ale 
Senontl esi Coseen a eee! te eee pene Se eee ae G> rel t= SD fn Ho 
te aad Gy RAT op oe he eo ie: ee ot es a. eS Le cE ewes, a A B 
Ug ES alee eiedehae Min ei 4 cae eRe e Ohi SALE Fee es eee bene i eae) oat 
SRL EA (ety + 2! 2 peg eee SRR Oe ee Seeman es SEE ae Ene See eee | “NS (oat 3 Cnt ae 
Dikthtyears ss oe ee Oe ee Se ee eee ee eee A B Cc D Eg 
Winter range-—tUnder the present methods of management the 
goats on many ranges often lose much in weight during the winter, 
and occasionally many of them die. Where the range is grazed by 
large herds throughout the year or even throughout the entire 
winter, from the corrai and shed at the winter ranch the browse in 
the vicinity of the camp is killed out or is weakened to such an extent 
that it provides very inadequate forage. When heavy snow comes 
the feed is still more scarce and goats must be fed if they are to 
maintain their weight. 3 
To reduce the extra feeding required and to decrease the liability 
of loss, the winter range should be situated low enough to be out 
of the range of severe storms. It is also essential that enough forage 
be protected at other times of the year so that the goats may obtain 
ample feed during the winter without excessive traveling. The 
browse areas at the lower elevations gener ally furnish the best win- 
ter forage. Practice has shown that it is best to reserve the feed 
close to the shed fer use during heavy snows and after shearing in 
the fall or late winter. In order to preserve this feed and prevent 
overgrazing, and still have the goats close enough to the shed to be 
brought in if a storm threatens, the goats may be bedded at a number 
of places about half a mile in different directions from the shed. 
PREVENTION OF OVERGRAZING. 
The most prominent signs of overgrazing are a reduction in the 
quantity of palatable forage, an increase in the nonpalatable plants, a 
stubby appearance in the browse species, an increase in the number 
of rocks showing above the soil, and a thinness in the goats due to 
insufficient nourishment. Signs of overgrazing which are not so 
readily noticed, but which should be watched for, are the failure of 
palatable species to flower and fruit, the removal of most of the leaves 
of important palatable browse species before fruiting, and the cover- 
ing of considerable grass on slopes with sliding soil brought down 
by trampling. 
