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Show lit PLI OH WGE EXPLJIKED Lxing Capacity Increased by Use of Improved Methods. Loption of Defm.te System Sys-tem Urged to Insure Correct Feeding. BY EARL V. STOr.M -v ra.r.ca Ov:-::t B.-.s.-.i .'xa-. fSstS-Oa. U. S. Forest Service . ,v demand for "vats and am fwy-pwducts increases fr. m year to Z, bee o!' th8 rapid ' '' "' laWionsnd 'he waning of the range ledbylhe advent of the dry tanner, . '..rent that the demand for gr:,.-: gr:,.-: .... M os I ; ives'S will ;;so Lee ht-somewhat the same proper foday the stockman i : kei " available foiag that e; 'era; serious in i .. es .. s. The fores' off'. ;ed ' the ! of these rang. s, ereiore, t rcS . hility as t'uey must to it that the iVcl is i'i:U - s-h vosr and ereppedoti the basis el isctaiacd annual yield. Improved Methods Used. . put j r years Liprov ed 4oJs of handling cattle, sheep a . iaive been iVnu :::;'. . 'si'iaan on quite a numbi of our bws. What is known as the "salt pbB method' used on cattle and rstises. has resulted in . -. , : ' e . ic'v of the range and in the ; r -it- stockmsn through great., meat ndnttioB. ttJe require B rl n at ; p them vigorous and healthy . It wont depending chief y upon the Itss of forage grazed and tht .:-,.aae season. Wiile on (tneen forage "... re salt s Liiied than when feeding on dry page or in the feed lot. The fores; trriee requires two ye.ui.e.s p. - a ..a 8 month while the f rage g-,., a. :; ; ! a: a . :.;.'. o: h; .: mis per month after the plants have tired and the leafage is somewhat tffle Relish Salt. pah, of course, is higi.iy re '.is f and horses, and hence affords aeans or distributing th- a. over the agi. Whenever salt is placed on the a& tie rxitnals eongregaii ... I i: until satisfied, then str il off to pas. If salted irregularly and in in-tffident in-tffident amounts a tendency results p overeat salt when availab which frequently results in severe sickness Lack of sufficient suit also results in stock loitering about an old salt lich vvheiv they trample out much range , as well as lose in weight. Salt placed : along a trail near water or on grassy meadows where slock -naturally eon I giegate ultimately results in trampling out the forage in the vicinity of such ! salting places. lu selecting salting places, therefore, the aim should be to place the salt on well vegetated areas, remote from places which are sure to be graved without with-out especially attracting Ilk' animals to them. A good salting system require that the salt be placed where it is accessible ac-cessible to the stock but where it will attract them away from the water and from r.ttnral loitering plaeys. in this way it is possible to get good dlstr! bution over the range and to avoid (overgrazing on any particular area. Places May Be Numbered, In order to facilitate the proper distribution dis-tribution of the stock and to properly distribute the salt each salting place mav be designated by number or name and the place posted. In addition, the amount of salt to be placed at each salting station and the date or dates when it is to be placed is determined in advance according to the grazing capacity of tho area which the salting ground will control. After the forage is consumed around one salting place salt is placed on another area which is ready for grasing. and so on through the season. An ideal salting system provides for the placing of salt so as to hold the stock on the early maturing forage until fully utili?y?d. after which salting is abandoned on these grounds and continued farther up the canyons and ridges, thus controlling grazing until the forage is well developed. To successfully carrv out a detailed salting plan as outlined, it is. of course, essential that the person responsible I for the administration of the range see I to it that the salt is put out in the I proper amount at the time decided j upon. The salting is usually done by the herder. It is aiso the herder 's duty ! to move ihe cattle to the new salt i gionnds, as well as to pick up any stragglers which may continue to re-I re-I main around old salt licks where the j forage has already been consumed. In th;s way the stock may be keot eon-I eon-I tinually on fresh feed and consequently come off the range in the fall in much better condition than from ranges I where no definite salting system is 'adopted. The cost of salting per animal an-imal is trivial compared with the gains made. Mere Start Made. I Salting plans have been successfully carried out on many forest ranges in I the west, but there still remains much to be done along this line. Where the i range was gradually becoming depicted it has been possible to prevent reduction reduc-tion in the number of stock permitted through proper salting, due to uniform utilization of the forage over the eu-tir? eu-tir? allotment. Stockmen everywhere should encourage encour-age improvement of range conditions bv adopting definite salting plans. (Wouldn't tbey do-so if they could increase in-crease the grazing capacity of their ranges from 25 to 50 per ?nt? That has been done on a few of the forest ranges already and only a mere start I has been made to date in the adoption I of improved salting plans. |