UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
I BULLETIN No. 1001 ^ 
Contribution from the Office of Farm Management 
and Farm Economics 
H. C. TAYLOR, Chief 
Washington, C. C. 
February 23, 1922 
THE RELATION OF LAND TENURE TO THE USE OF THE 
ARID GRAZING LANDS OF THE SOUTHWESTERN STATES 
By E. O. Wooton, Assistant Agricultural Economist. 
(Section of Land Economics, L. C. Gray, Economist in Charge.) . 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Introduction 1 
The region 3 
Some factors controlling stock raising on arid 
grazing lands 9 
The natural conditions 9 
The resultant forage crop 13 
The land tenure 15 
Some consequences of the open-range method 
of stock raising 28 
Some benefits arising from fencing the range 
and controlling the methods of use 36 
The necessary legislation 42 
Basic assumptions 42 
Requirements that must be met 44 
Methods proposed 45 
Conclusion 62 
Appendices 63 
Bibliography. 68 
INTRODUCTION. 1 
A large part of the land of the western half of continental United 
States, probably from one-half to two-thirds of the total area, can 
not be used for the growing of field crops, mainly because the rainfall 
which it receives is insufficient for the growth of any known cultivated 
plants. The precipitation, however, is enough for the production of 
a growth of native vegetation which furnishes excellent, though 
sparse, forage for grazing animals. 
Practically all of this land is now in use as grazing land, and has 
been so used for the last 25 to 50 years. Because no other profitable 
use for the land has yet been found, the grazing industry has become 
one of the leading, if not the leading, industry in many of the Western 
States. It is probable that in the case of more than 95 per cent of 
the public land yet unreserved and unappropriated the failure to 
1 This bulletin has been prepared under the immediate direction of Dr. L. C. Gray, Economist in Charge 
of Land Economics, Office of Farm Management and Farm Economics. In the preparation of this bulletin 
the writer has used freely information obtained from many sources, some of which can not be referred 
to in the literature of the subject because it has not been published. He is very grateful for the courte- 
sies extended, and takes this means of acknowledging his indebtedness and expressing his thanks. 
60835°— 22— Bull. 1001 1 
