t 
RANGE AND CATTLE MANAGEMENT DURING DROUGHT. 3 
depends upon the duration of the drought and the manner of grazing. 
A study on the Jornada Range Reserve in southern New Mexico dur- 
ing the dry years of 1916 to 1918 showed that ungrazed range 
depreciated approximately 40 per cent as a result of natural condi- 
tions alone. The depreciation on grazed areas was according to the 
grazing. Range grazed heavily throughout the year deteriorated 
from 62 to 70 per cent in the stand of the best forage plants, while 
ranges not grazed heavily during the main growing season deterio- 
rated as much as 45 per cent. 
Many of the best ranges in the Southwest at the close of the last 
drought were 75 to 80 per cent below their original carrying capacity 
and will require several years of hight stocking and careful manage- 
ment to restore them to even a reasonable condition as regards their 
carrying capacity. 
If the production of live stock is to continue profitably over the 
vast area of the southwestern ranges the hazard of drought must 
be minimized. Ranges must not be allowed to deteriorate as they 
have in the past because of improvident grazing management, and 
measures for their restoration after drought must be provided for. 
The present losses of cattle must be cut down and the calf crops in- 
creased to more nearly what they should be. The breeding herds 
must be safeguarded against sacrifice sale and loss in time of drought, 
and young stock must be kept growing. The solution of the problem 
of stabilizing the production and reducing the hazards must take 
into consideration all these phases, and at the same time be capable 
of practical application to the every-day needs of the business. 
Stockmen of this region realize that existing conditions are un- 
satisfactory. In a majority of cases, however, they are not in a 
position to apply the remedy, since they do not own the lands and 
can not regulate grazing upon them. If an individual stockman 
reduces his herd to save feed for emergency, the surplus grass 
tempts some one else to move his stock in and graze it. Supplemental 
feeding as a remedy is limited because of prohibitive cost. | 
Live-stock production in the southwest is dependent upon the 
range forage as the primary source of feed, and any remedy for 
existing conditions must, therefore, include a more conservative 
and wiser use of the range. ‘The first requirement is centralized 
control which will regulate use of the range and prevent over- 
stocking as well as insist upon better management plans for drought 
periods. Supplemental feeding can then be undertaken as far as 
good business will permit, and there will be opportunity for im- 
provement of both stock and range. 
The need for changes in the management of both range and stock, 
with adjustment especially to meet the trying conditions during 
periods of drought, led to the establishment in 1912 of the Jornada 
