RANGE WATERING PLACES IN THE SOUTHWEST 39 
| plies, but many grazing areas are still inadequately watered. Al- 
though ina few instances the economic limit of investment in water 
for livestock has been exceeded, in other cases additional develov- 
ment will pay through more uniform utilization and maintained 
_yigor of the range, more economical production, and greater stability 
| of the business, “especially during drought. 
WATER REQUIREMENTS OF ANIMALS 
Water needs of grazing animals vary with the kind of steck, the 
character of feed, and the weather conditions. On the range broad 
_ averages may be put at about 10 gallons daily for cattle and horses 
ancl ie gallon a day for sheep and goats. In warm weather cattle 
and horses desire’ water daily. On dry feed sheep with young 
lambs, and goats with young kids, should have water daily. With 
- succulent forage, cool weather, and frequent fogs, showers, or dews, 
all classes of livestock require watering less often. Under ‘such con- 
ditions sheep may go without water for several days or even weeks 
, without serious results. 
SPACING OF WATERING PLACES 
The efficiency of a given number of livestock watering places de- 
pends largely on how they are distributed over the range, the 
method of handling the livestock, topography, kind of soil and 
i orace, character of. footing, and density of timber and brush. For 
satisfactor y results permanent waters on cattle ranges should not be 
farther apart than from 4 to 5 miles in flat or undulating country 
(equivalent to from 14 to 24 sections to a watering place) ; 38 miles in 
rolling country (from 6 to 12 sections); and from 1 to 2 miles on 
rough ranges (from 1 to 4 sections). These limits may be approxi- 
mately doubled for sheep and goats under favorable conditions and 
proper management. ‘Temporary watering places are an aid to 
_ satisfactory livestock distribution and permit some protection to 
the range near permanent water. 
_ Attempts to utilize all forage without due regard to amount and 
_ distribution of water may be expected to result in excessive over- 
| grazing about permanent water and serious losses of livestock dur- 
ing drought. Estimates of the number of animals to be grazed 
should be based on the practical possibility of use of available water 
as well as forage. The low grazing value of some areas will not 
justify sufficient water development to utilize all the forage. 
SPRINGS AND OTHER WATER DEVELOPMENTS 
The development of practically all springs and wet-weather seeps 
will pay in the Southwest. Development “needed usually imcludes 
excavating, fencing, boxing or curbing the cavity where necessary, 
and piping the water to a storage tank or direct to a trough or 
series of troughs. 
Pipe lines leading from springs, mines, or other sources, from short 
distances to those several miles in length and involving heavy in- 
vestments, have proved successful where other types of development 
were impracticable. Pipe at least 1 inch in diameter is advised even 
for short distances and not less than 114 or 2 inches for long lines. 
