Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 168, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 July 1910 — GRAZING ON NATIONALFORESTS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GRAZING ON NATIONALFORESTS

THE amount of stock which will be~authorized to graze on the national forests during the season of 1910, determined by the secretary of agriculture, shows an Increase in the total number which will be allowed as compared with the number last year, of approximately 200,000 cattle and horses and 500,000 sheep and goats. The total allowance for the coming grazing season Is 1,957,000 cattle and horses and 8,323,000 sheep and goats.

* The most important increases are ih the states of Nevada, Colorado, Montana, Utah and Washington, and, except in Nevada, where over a million acres have Jbeen added to the national forest area of the state, through the creation of the Nevada forest, are the result of improved range conditions due to regulated grazing. In the other states any local reductions which have been necessary to safeguard the forest range have been offset by increases on other portions of the range, so that in no state has the total number of stock to be grazed been materially reduced. It. can be stated that the secretary of agriculture is very solicitous to secure the fullest possible utilization of the range resources of the national forests, in Order that the forests may contribute, just as far as is consistent with proper protection of the range itself and of the forest growth, to the market supply of beef and mutton. Range-fed stock contribute very materially to the food supply of the country, and. under the grazing methods which have been brought about by the government control of the forest range, a marked improvement in the weight and quality of the stock produced as well as an increase in the number of head is being brought about. Contrary to a widespread belief, the United States department of agriculture does not consider the burning over of national forest lands as an effective means of dealing with the cattle tick and the dreaded fever which it’ spreads. This is set forth by Secretary Wilson in the following passages of a recent letter to Representative Floyd of the Third Arkansas district: “I have just received a communication from Dr. Cooper Curtice, veteranary inspector of the bureau of animal industry of this department, seting forth certain opinions respecting the burning of forests and ranges to destroy ticks which infest cattle and transmit disease, in which the department fully concurs. Doctor Curtice has had many years’ experience with the department, is one of the original investigators of Ae fever tick, and has probably had more experience in this line of work than any other scientist He has recently made a tour through northern Arkansas and Investigated the conditions which exist in tha* Ideality, and his observations are therefore quite pertinent to the question of conflict in the policies of the bureau of animal industry and the forest service. The observations of Doctor Curtice are, in effect, as follows:

** ‘lt is true that at certain times of the year burning the grass on an inclosed field may remove the ticks wherever the fire travels, but even then many places remain unburned and the owner depends on the fire for eradication and consequently falls. At meetings of cattle men and others I have been speaking against the, practise of. burning over the forest ground and have held that no work would be saved in the process 6f eradication because the cattle should necessarily

be treated according to some one of the methods specified In Farmers’ Bulletin No. 378 (Methods of Exter : minating the Texas-Fever Tick), in order to secure perfect results. It is necessary to remember in this connection that there are many unburned places, especially around the dwellings, barns and other places where cattle lie.

“ ‘Whenever the grass is repeatedly burned, the roots become eventually destroyed, the sweeter grasses give way to the more resistant and finally the latter perish. Not only does fire destroy the scanty sod but in removing the leaves as a protective covering the hot sun of summer is permitted to dry the soil to a crust and continues the devastation. The best grass I saw was in a place where the young growth was at least three years old. In so far as tick eradication is concerned, it seems to me an injustice that the necessities of the work should be quoted as being opposed to the needs of the forest service. Firing the leaves has not eradicated ticks, although followed for years. Instead of being beneficial in the forest, It has killed out the grasses and even the new-growth of trees, which so often furnish in spring the only source of nourishment —the buds upon which the cattle may browse while the scanty herbage grows. “‘I have steadily advised that pastures, meadows and growing crops be provided, upon which the cattle could be held and fed the year around, and thus the need for using the range be obviated, and the farmer, by securing control of the feeding and breeding factors, be able to raise better cattle for the markets. Under present conditions the mountain farmers are saving no manure, are making small crops, and are raising a very poor quality of cattle and hogs. By attending to better cultivation, diversified crops, and feeding stock on the farm, and abandoning the prejudicial burning of the woods and range, they can raise a very high quality of live stock and acquire a better money crop than they have heretofore held.

“ From my observation and conversations with the farmers of the Ozark forest, on my recent trip, I am led to believe that they will take up tick eradication as soon as they can raise the necessary money? —The legislature meets in 1911 and they will then ask for a new five-cent district in addition to state funds.’ ’’