32 BULLETIN 1001, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
best conditions the round-up work is hard on men, horses, and cattle- 
night guard work is altogether disagreeable, as are other round-up 
duties. Taken altogether, it is an undesirable practice. Experienced 
cattlemen who have used both open and fenced ranges all prefer the 
latter and agree that there is much less work on the fenced range and 
that the required work is easier. Stock handled in fenced pastures, 
especially if they are fed occasionally, are usually gentler than those 
that run on an open range. From the standpoint of the stockman, 
gentle stock are much more satisfactory to work with and they 
utilize the feed better than those that are wild and nervous. Open- 
range conditions tend to produce the latter condition while the fenced 
range has the opposite effect. 
Losses. — The losses so far mentioned are indirect — the result of 
reduced production of feed, reduced output of salable animals, a lower 
standard of quality in the animals sold, and an increased expense of 
production, all of which make for a smaller net income than might 
reasonably be expected from the business. 
The open-range system of management also causes direct losses. 
The most important of such losses are naturally those which result 
from starvation of stock during periods of drought. 
In addition most ranges produce certain poisonous plants. On an 
overgrazed range these plants are generally more conspicuous and 
better grown than others that are good feed, because the stock will 
not eat them when other feed is obtainable. Hungry stock will eat 
the poisonous plants, and a certain percentage of them die in con- 
sequence. 
Some animals "drift" from one watering place to another, causing 
considerable extra riding to bring them back and the loss of a few 
head. 
A small number of animals are missed each year at the round-up 
work. Some of such animals should be sold off the range that season, 
either because they are in good condition for sale or because they are 
of too poor quality to warrant carrying over another season. Such 
stock when left on the range are a distinct loss to the business, since 
they eat feed that should be going to other animals. 
Sick animals are hard to find, and many die that might be saved if 
they could be found in time. This condition is worse on, an open 
range than in fenced pastures. 
The custom of New Mexico and Arizona cattlemen is to figure on 
a 10 per cent loss on the open range. This figure is doubtless an 
average that includes the big losses from death during drought. 
Figures obtained from fenced ranges show average losses of from 2 to 
3 per cent only. (See p. 38.) Since this percentage applies to the 
whole number of animals, the possible reduction of loss (7 to 8 per 
