CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE CIRCULAR 129 April, 1945 IMPROVING CALIFORNIA RANGES BURLE J. JONES and R. M. LOVE Supplementing range forage with irrigated pasture and concentrates. Cooperative Extension work in Agriculture and Home Economics, College of Agriculture, University of California, and United States Department of Agriculture cooperating. Distributed in furtherance of the Acts of Congress of May 8, and June 30, 1914. B. H. Crocheron, Director, California Agricultural Extension Service. THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA CONTENTS Introduction 3 Year-round livestock-feeding practices 4 Growth habits of range plants 8 Species recommended for various regions 9 I. North coast 12 II. Central coast 15 III. South coast 17 IV. North central valley and foothills 18 V. South central valley and foothills 21 VI. Mountain 23 VII. Desert 25 Effects of mowing and grazing on establishment of seeded perennials 25 Early versus late mowing of stipas 25 Early and late grazing and mowing of perennials 26 Observations on management of brush fields 31 Seasonal management of livestock 35 Summary of recommendations 41 Eeseeding practices 41 Brush management 43 Grazing management 43 Common and scientific names of plants mentioned in this circular 44 Plants tested in range nurseries, by key numbers 44 Plants tested one or more years but abandoned as unpromising 45 Other plants mentioned in the text 46 List of references for further reading 47 318-1921 1934-1937 210,000 140,000 560,000 340,000 IMPROVING CALIFORNIA RANGES BURLE J. JONES^ and E. M. LOVE^ INTRODUCTION The problem of range feed resources that California range operators are facing is neither new, nor for the most part, of their own making. Weediness, through the influx and spread of alien plants, continues ; but overgrazing and actual range depletion are less prevalent and serious now than some years ago. The range was more heavily stocked in 1876, when there were over 7% million sheep and 1 million cattle, than in 1940, when there were about 3 mil- lion sheep and 1% million cattle. As early as 1865, the problems of overgrazing, weediness, shortage of stored feed reserve, and the poor quality of range ani- mals were discussed with concern by agricultural leaders.^ California livestock men early developed a routine of wintering their stock on home ranches, and summering them at high elevation. But after the national forests were organized, the United States Forest Service found that the live- stock numbers on the higher ranges must be reduced for the sake of main- taining the yield level of pasturable plants. The history of these adjustments (showing a peak during World War I) is about as follows : 1910-1913 Cattle and horses 175,000 Sheep and goats 425,000 The stringent reduction necessary after the first world war seemed a serious menace to the range-livestock interest. Eventually, however, it will doubtless prove a benefit, both to the higher ranges and to the livestock men themselves. Thrown back on their own resources, the graziers are developing other sources of feed. On many ranges satisfactory management practices have long been in effect, but the general movement toward planned and sustained improvement of private ranges has occurred during the past decade and is gathering impetus. The goal of any planned system of range management may be summed up as the highest possible yield of palatable and nutritious feed over the longest possible part of the year. To assist range operators in achieving this end, the Agricultural Extension Service has been conducting state-wide tests, both on the suitability of plant species for artificial reseeding and on the management that will encourage desirable species. This circular reports general results of these tests; specific recommendations should be sought from the county farm advisors and from cooperating range men. In 1943 the University of California Division of Agronomy at Davis con- ducted a test on adjusted grazing management to determine how far into the summer grazing can be extended, and what livestock loads can be carried in that part of the Sacramento Valley. The report on this test is included here. 1 Assistant Professor of Agricultural Extension (Agronomy). 2 Assistant Professor of Agronomy and Assistant Agronomist in the Experiment Station. ^ See for example : Bidwell, John. Annual address. California State Agr. Soc. Trans. 1864-65:212.1866. 4 California Agricultural Extension Circular 129 YEAR-ROUND LIVESTOCK-FEEDING PRACTICES There are infinite variations in seasonal livestock management, but nearly all of the practices examined in twenty-two counties f aU into one or more of eight classes : 1. Home ranch the year round, with or without protein supplements for the dry summer. The most satisfactory year-round operations of this type are found in the north coast and semicoastal districts where rainfall is high, the dry season is comparatively short, and there is a reasonably good stand of perennial grasses. Even on some of these ranges the use of some protein concentrate (fig. 1), such as cottonseed cake, is often profitable in summer as a means of maintain- Fig. 1. — Feeding protein concentrates to supplement dry summer ranges. ing the weights of both mature and young animals. On many ranges an ade- quate supplement of protein has even aided in preserving perennial grasses, for these plants have often been depleted through persistent grazing by for- aging animals in search of needed proteins furnished by the late green leaves. Many small enterprises in nearly every county do manage to get by without any feed other than that provided by the foothill ranges and some protein supplement. A very successful example was found in the foothills of Stanis- laus County. On this ranch the area that is to be utilized during the dry sum- mer is not grazed at all previously. When the cattle are turned on it in late May or early June it will contain a rather dense cover of the usual annual grasses plus a reasonably good population of bur-clover, filaree, and native clovers. These, with a supplement of cottonseed cake, not only maintain the cattle but even turn out fat steers. In the succeeding year another section of the range is used for this summer feed. By such rotation a good quality of annual feed is maintained ; and there are at least sustained remnants of perennial grasses, chiefly stipas (needlegrasses), melics, bluegrasses, and squirreltails. On some of the ranges studied there are dry stream beds and seeps where feed remains green rather late in the summer. Without a definite rotation graz- ing practice and supplemental protein, these areas gradually decline in both Improving California Ranges 5 quantity and quality of feed ; but with them, these areas may be maintained at a rather high level of production. 2. Home ranch the year round with part of the range cut green and fed during the summer or fall, out of windrow or shock. This type of utilization depends on having, in each range subdivision, some areas that can be mowed. The yield will vary markedly with the season. In years of low rainfall, conditions may be so severe that none of the feed will reach hay proportions. Where this method is practiced in rotation, however, such a problem seldom arises. To be most effective the mowing should be done before the dominant grasses have become fibrous through overmaturity. This means that they should be cut as near to blooming time as possible. There is a wide variation in the handling of this cut forage. Some operators leave it in rather small and loose windrows. Others rake it up promptly and compress it into large shocks, thus preserving as much as possible of the green color. The hay will be consumed in all cases during the dry season ; but the greenest material will certainly contain the most protein and the best feed values. Cutting will help to reduce dense stands of ripgut grass and other undesirable species, if done before their seeds mature. The practice has spread markedly during the past six years. Even with this kind of feed available, most operators use some protein supplement. 3. Home ranch the year round, with a hay supplement in the summer. The few cases of this practice encountered were in the foothills of the San Joaquin Valley, chiefly in Tulare County. On some ranches baled alfalfa hay is brought in and fed to the livestock on dry range from about August until December (when green feed becomes available). On others green grain or wild-oat hay is cut with a chopper into large trailers. These trailers are unloaded into covered bunkers on the adjacent range, where the feed is available to the livestock. Both these methods appear feasible and economic. The ranges examined were in good condition, bearing good populations of bur-clover, filaree, soft chess, and perennial grasses. 4. Home ranch the year round, with Sudan grass for summer. It is estimated that over 100,000 acres of Sudan grass are used in this way. This includes some acreage irrigated before seeding in the Imperial Valley and in the western San Joaquin Valley. On dry -farmed areas this practice centers in the Sacramento Valley and on or near the coast from Sonoma to San Diego. No other grass available will produce so much feed with so little surface moisture as will Sudan, once a stand is secured. The trick is to retain the soil moisture until the soil is warm enough for seeding this crop. Sometimes the seed must be planted in a furrow (a practice called "listing") in order to get it down to adequate moisture. Where enough land is available so that a system of Sudan grass and fallow can be set up, this plan can be followed indefinitely. But where suitable land is so limited that the grass must be seeded in the same field each year, declining yields are almost sure to follow. In these situations some alternate crop, such as vetch, or vetch and oats, will probably have to aid in maintaining soil fertility, particularly nitrogen supplies. If this ar- rangement is not possible, then some substitute crop or practice must replace Sudan srrass. 6 California Agricultural Extension Circular 129 5. Home ranch part of the year, with summer range at high elevations. This is the oldest and most natural routine in the range-livestock business. Usually the high range is in the national forests or is a combination of private land and public domain. Costs and hazards in this are governed by distance to and from the range, by losses in weight, and by livestock mortality through straying, predators, and poisoning. The United States Forest Service recog- nizes as most desirable those permittees who own or operate ranges near the forests, so that both hazards and costs may be kept at reasonable levels. This method of handling livestock usually fits reasonably well into the best season of use for the home range, but there is sometimes a gap between the return of stock from the mountains and the advent of pasturable green feed. When the Fig. 2. — Typical mountain meadowland, a feed resource too valuable to be allowed to degenerate into less than full production. home range is in good condition, this gap can be filled by the use of dry bur- clover and filaree, or by the use of feed that has been cut green and bunched for this purpose ; in addition, protein supplements are desirable. 6. Home ranch part of the year, with summer feed on stubble, beet tops, and other crop residue. Very few of California's 1,000,000 acres of barley, 700,000 acres of wheat, and 200,000 acres of oats do not use livestock for the cleanup after harvest. Crop residue therefore contributes much to the total livestock enterprise. In skillful hands it is a source of much good feed. Some operators overlook the fact that stubble begins to decline in feed production from the day feeding begins. They sometimes leave livestock on the residue until little is left, even of the straw. The invariable result is much costlj^ loss in flesh, which must be regained when better feeds become available. Beet tops are, as a rule, fully utilized. The common practice is to feed them off as they have fallen in the field. Recently some of these tops have been made into stacked silage. By this method maximum feed values are preserved.* 7. Home ranch with meadow aftermath, or with use of part of the meadow for summer pasture. * Guilbert, H. E., W. M. Regan, and R. F. Miller. Utilization of sugar-beet tops. 4 p. California Agricultural Experiment Station, Berkeley, California. 1943. (Lithoprint.) Improving California Ranges 7 On most ranches at high elevations, the primary purpose of the meadov^s is to supply hay for winter feed. Here the aftermath, pastured, constitutes an important part of the fall feed supply. Often there has been a definite effort to improve the quality and tonnage of meadow output. The result usually is that hay supplies are increased to a point where there is a safe margin and where some of the former meadowland may be used for summer pasture. There may be a split operation in which the breeding herd or the weaners are kept at home while the rest of the herd or flock go to the high mountains for the summer. Much work remains to be done on this phase of home-ranch development. According to recent studies, many mountain meadows have been markedly reduced in the character and quality of their production by a too liberal use of water : they are kept in a marshy condition throughout the summer, except while haying is in progress ; and gradually excess water drives out the most valuable grasses and legumes, besides encouraging sedges and other poor types. Good meadowland (fig. 2) is too valuable to any livestock enterprise to be allowed to degenerate into anything less than full productive capacity. Proper water distribution, rotation, and adequate drainage will pay good dividends on these meadows. 8. Home range part of the year, with irrigated pastures for summer. Of the 300,000 acres of irrigated pasture in California, about 100,000 are used for beef cattle and sheep. No other innovation in the livestock business has done so much to relieve the stress on overburdened ranges and to improve the quality of meat animals. Irrigated pastures when properly handled will supplement foothill ranges at a ratio of about 10 to 1. Putting it another way, 100 acres of good irrigated pasture will summer for 6 to 7 months as many animals as 1,000 acres of range will properly support during the other 5 to 6 months. They may also be used to augment hay supplies. They give a livestock man an ideal opportunity to develop his foothill range up to its utmost carrying capacity by taking off the load during the critical dry summer. Many operators who cannot provide irrigated pastures for their entire flocks or herds are developing or renting sufficient acreage to care for breeding herds, weaners, or animals being fattened. This practice, in turn, gives the home range some relief. The value of any of the practices discussed above to a given livestock enter- prise must be determined by comparative cost, by adaptation, by probable permanence, and by relation to improvement of the home range. An example of possible lack of permanence is the growing of Sudan grass where only a limited acreage is available for it. One or more of these supplementary practices will be essential to round out the feed year of almost any foothill range, since the proper utilization of seasonal green feed will not leave enough residue, in bulk or in feed value, for the dry season. Judging, however, from existing practices in foothill- range management, the quality of the feed can be improved and the grazing season lengthened by the adoption of properly designed grazing rotations on any range whether for year-long or for part-year use. 8 California Agricultural Extension Circular 129 GROWTH HABITS OF RANGE PLANTS In order to plan an intelligent range-improvement program, the operator must know something about the species of range plants, annual and perennial, good, bad, and indifferent, that are living upon his range or near it. He needs only a practical working knowledge. He will wish to know why some plants survive and increase under grazing and plant competition whereas others fail to grow at all or disappear. No one has yet been able to picture accurately the species and relative abun- dance of grasses and other forage plants that occupied California ranges before the advent of the white man. Early explorers have left us only a very imperfect and incomplete record of the original plant cover. American settlers in the Great Valley found bur-clover, filaree, and wild oats very prevalent. Yet, according to the most careful research, none of these is native to the state. The inevitable conclusion is that, during the century of Spanish occupation, seeds of these were brought here from Europe directly or by way of Mexico, since they are native to the Mediterranean. The Medusa-head wild-rye, a weedy type of annual that is now invading the state, illustrates how rapidly these introduced species can spread. Less than ten years ago the Medusa-head was recorded only in northern Siskiyou County and near Los Gatos in Santa Clara County. It has now invaded many range areas of northern California. Another ten years will probably find it as widespread as soft chess, red brome, ripgut grass, and many other common annual grasses. The bromegrasses, which are now the most common on California ranges, are represented by twenty-four species. But only four of these are native ; and they are of limited distribution and importance, except California brome, one of the common bunch grasses. Most of the weedy types of annuals now prevalent, such as ripgut grass, red brome, downy chess, foxtail barley and nitgrass, were introduced into this state. Along with them came a few now classed as desirable, such as bur-clover, filaree, and soft chess. These annuals found California a most congenial home, especially the valleys and lower foothills where the winters are not severe. Here they begin growth with the first fall rains and are able to ripen before the dry summer overtakes them. Since moisture is abundant in winter they require very little in volume or depth of roots to nourish them. Perennial plants, on the other hand, must perpetuate themselves as indi- viduals. As a rule they remain green later than the annuals ; and often they are later in setting seed. Different species survive the long, dry summers by different means. Bunch grasses, such as the stipas, have a deep-penetrating system of fibrous roots that explore moisture zones far beyond the reach of annuals. Alfalfa, burnet, and similar plants have long taproots with numerous side branches that reach far and deep into the soil. Timothy, Harding grass, one form of tall oatgrass, and some of the native melics store plant food in swellings (corms) at the base of the culms. Most plants propagate by means of seeds from previous crops. In addition to seed production some plants, such as quackgrass, beardless wild-rye, and bluestem, spread locally in colonies by means of underground runners, or Improving California Kanges 9 rhizomes. Others have aboveground runners, or stolons; in this gTOup are Rhodes grass and kikuyu grass. Bermuda grass has both stolons and rhizomes. Some species having each of these life habits do tolerate the California climate, and many perennials of each group have lived here successfully after being introduced. Judging from remnants found throughout the foothill ranges of the state, there was once a considerable population of perennial grasses. Among these v^ere stipas, three-awns, squirreltail grasses, Junegrass, bluegrasses, fescues, bromegrasses, and melic grasses. Before these were destroyed or seriously depleted by summer grazing, they provided much green feed after the annuals had matured and died. In considering range improvement, then, one must determine whether or not these native perennials can be brought back in pasturable stands and whether a system of manage- ment can be devised to perpetuate them at a profitable grazing level. In order to determine the most economical means of reducing undesirable species, of increasing desirable ones, and of introducing new ones, one must know something of their life cycles, their relative dates of maturity, their ability to associate with others, and their aggressiveness. Through observation one learns more about the resistance of each species to grazing, its recovery after grazing, and the comparative degree and season of stocking that will increase or reduce it. Some of the management practices that have been found effective are discussed in later sections. Since this circular is intended for popular use there is no botanical descrip- tion of the range plants. This information can be found in the references. Scientific names of species tested and of other species mentioned by common names in the text are listed on pages 44 to 46. SPECIES RECOMMENDED FOR VARIOUS REGIONS Since so many of our present range plants are introduced, it is reasonable to ask whether we can intentionally import others of better feed values and with a longer grazing season, get them established on our ranges, and secure profitable grazing from them. The late P. B. Kennedy, after some years of rather desultory tests and dis- couraging experience, still believed this to be a promising field for research. He also visualized a time when seed of our best resident species would be propagated and harvested for artificial reseeding. In 1937 the Agricultural Extension Service initiated the first organized project of this kind in the state. More than a hundred species were tested in a series of row nurseries and broadcast plot plantings (figs. 3 and 4) . From 40 to 100 species were used in a single nursery. The plants tested are given by key numbers and common and botanical names on pages 44 and 45. There were 240 nurseries and broadcast plots in 40 counties of the state. The approximate locations are shown by dots in figure 5. Records were made of these plantings for the following six years, including 1943. There were also observations on many seedings made in row nurseries or broadcast by the Soil Conservation Service in or near their projects or districts. These and the parent nurseries supplied seed of several species not available on the commercial market. The recommendations on the following pages are based on the results of 10 California Agricultural Extension Circular 129 these tests and on observations of acreage seeding made by farm advisors or by range cooperators. The University of California Division of Agronomy is conducting extensive selection and breeding work on some of the more promising perennial and Fig. 3. — A row nursery in Lassen County. This is typical of over 200 nurseries in 40 counties. Fig. 4. — Plot seeding in San Diego County. Such seedings, usually of about y^o acre for each species, followed the nursery row tests. annual range plants in an attempt to find or develop strains especially adapted to specific environmental conditions found in California rangelands. The pre- liminary selection work has dealt with the segregation and purification of the various plant types within a species. Some of the selections are now being tested, but the work has not progressed to the point where specific recommen- dations can be made, and seed is not yet available for commercial distribution. Experience in Australia has demonstrated that seeded forage plants often Improving California Ranges 11 have rather narrow limits of tolerance w^ith respect to soil, elevation, and rainfall. Soil deficiencies there are more marked than they are here ; and ap- parently some of the other factors are more restrictive. Many of the California native and introduced species seem to have rather v^ide tolerance betvv^een the extremes of drought, moisture, heat, and cold, and are widely dispersed, espe- cially over the intermediate zones. The elevation, topography, precipitation, climate, and plant-life zones of California, or any one of them, cannot be accurately illustrated except on a complicated and confused map pattern. From Mount Shasta in the north to I North CoAst H Central CoAst HI South CoAst IZ North Central Valley * Foothill* Y. South Central Valley & Foothills H Mountain 2tt Desert' Fig. 5. — General climatic regions of California. Dots indicate the location of range nurseries and broadcast plots. Kern County in the south, the Cascade Range and the Sierra Nevada present an irregular but continuous pattern of high elevations, indented by canyons sloping up from the Great Valley. Here precipitation can generally be reck- oned by altitude. On the west the coastal mountains present a more haphazard picture. Topography breaks suddenly, with rainfall belts of 40 inches or more spotting the map : beginning at Mt. Tamalpais on the north and extend- ing southward in the Santa Cruz, Santa Lucia, San Gabriel, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, and Laguna mountains. When the distribution of resident species and the successes and failures of the many plants used in the range-improvement project are studied, a general pattern emerges that coincides roughly with the climatic factors mentioned. This serves to divide the state into seven regions as shown on figure 5. Many of the species used in the test plots are not discussed in the recommen- dations for these seven regions. Only those have been included that gave some economic measure of survival in a sufficient number of trials to be significant. 12 California Agricultural Extension Circular 129 I. NORTH COAST Rainfall in the north-coast region (fig. 5) varies from over 100 inches in the north to about 16 in the San Francisco Bay area. This higher rainfall, together with a longer rainy season, tends to increase the number of gi'ass species that will survive. But it is generally less favorable for legumes. The recommended species for reseeding are: tall oatgrass (6),^ California brome (7), tall fescue (8), California oatgrass (9), the ryegrasses (12,13,14,89,90) (fig. 6), birdsfoot trefoils (15, 16), melics (22, 23, 24), prairie grass (25), Harding grass (28), burnet (30), the stipas (33, 34, 35), hop clover (43), subterranean clover (56, 97, 98 — especially 98, the late strain), and orchard grasses (63, 63A, 63B). Fig. 6. — A ryegrass seeding in Mendocino County. Light seedings (such as tlmt shown) will survive better than dense stands on dry range. Hion'boldf and Mendocino counties are a natural grass country, the chief problems being competition with resident growth, the need of adapted legumes to enricli the feed and maintain nitrogen in the soil, and some difficulties in the hotter interior regions, especially on the poor and exposed slopes. Hop clover (43), subterranean clovers (56, 98), and sometimes two species of trefoils (15, 16, 65) have been found to meet the first requirement very well. Sufficient grass species have also emerged favorably from the tests wherever [hey could be so seeded and managed as to avoid serious competition the first year. On the less favorable areas the greatest gains will come from the gradual adoption of grazing practices that will foster the return of such native peren- nials as California and timber oatgrasses, stipas, purple reedgrass, Junegrass, and the two perennial bromes Bromus carinaUis (California brome), and B. laevipes. Further work is planned with hop clover (43), shamrock clover, subterranean clovers (56, 97, 98.), trefoils (15, 16, 65), and such other legumes as are found to succeed, in order to bring up the legume content of the forage. Seeding operations are very promising in the many small valleys when con- ditions permit some seedbed preparation. In Mendocino County many acres ^ Figures in parentheses refer to key numbers in the list on pages 44 and 45. Improving California Ranges 13 have been planted to Harding grass and other species under the well-organized program of the farm advisor. As a result of the tests many acreage plantings have been made in Humboldt County. Most of the sites selected have been on land previously in oats for hay, or in some cultivated crop. Here the recommendations of the farm ad- visor have served a double purpose : the operator has had hay supplies prac- tically equal in volume and feed value to his former grain crops without the necessity of annual seeding (fig. 7) ; and he has had a much greater aftermath of pasture, of better quality, than was formerly possible. The project has thus become very useful to many cooperators in Humboldt County. Fig. 7. — Former grain-hay land on the north coast reseeded with ■ permanent hay and pasture mixture. None of the subterranean clovers (56, 97, 98) has been very successful in any of the plantings in Lake County. Inoculation with and without phos- phorus should be tested before the species is abandoned here, since it seems to fit well into the soil and rainfall conditions of this county. Reseeding results in the nurseries and in large-acreage seedings on the Guenoc, Witter Springs, and Kiethly ranges of Lake County have indicated that domestic ryegrass (13) and bur-clover (20) could be used on thin and somewhat poor soils. On the deeper and better soils tall fescue (8), Hard- ing grass (28), burnet (30), alfalfa (17), and orchard grass (63) could be added, especially after brush burning or after some seedbed preparation. One nursery in NajM County was seeded in a burn of brush and timber slash. By the third year manzanita seedlings had encroached upon it. It was hoped that data could be secured relative to the effect of a second burning on tlie stand of annual and of seeded plants and on the brush cover. Unfortun- ately, efforts to bring about a safe reburn were not successful. Forage conditions in Napa County can be much improved through reseed- ing of the richer and flatter slopes and the bottomlands of the many valleys. Many brush fields where slash is burned or where accidental fires occur could also be seeded profitably. On the rougher and steeper topography, regulated 14 California Agricultural Extension Circular 129 grazing management is essential to restore good stands of desirable resident annual and perennial plants of good forage value. Before the inception of this project, many test plantings of various species had been made in Sonoma County. Harding grass (28) and burnet (30) have been very durable and good producers of summxcr green feed. Many other species have also been widely used and generally successful. Recent tests indi- date that birdsfoot trefoil (16) will thrive on many dry-land pastures. Sub- terranean clover (56, 97, 98) has also become established on many sites, though it did not survive in the nursery. Some additional work is desirable to deter- mine whether inoculation or the application of phosphorus will make this plant more useful. The spreading of animal manures has been found to increase forage production here. Phosphorus has markedly stimulated the growth of bur-clover (20). Most of the foothills of Sonoma County are used in dairying rather than in beef and sheep production. Dairying calls for a high per-acre forage yield and a green forage that will extend throughout the summer. The range plants tested there have not fully accomplished these purposes under the seeding and management practices applied. Sudan grass has been extensively used and has served very well. The one serious disadvantage is the need of annual soil preparation and sowing for the production of this crop. Perhaps some cooperator can be found who has cropped to Sudan grass or small grains until his land has become rather free of competing resident plants. On such land a good seeding of the most productive and promising perennials could be made, to serve as a test of total annual yield and net income as compared with Sudan grass. The continuous grazing that has been applied to these hills has seriously depleted and, in many cases, destroyed the California oatgrass (9) that is native there. Reseeding this valuable perennial would be helpful. Subsequent grazing rotations that would serve to perpetuate it would doubtless be ade- quate for any other seeded species. Range reseeding has now become a common practice in Marin County. Where these plantings are on land that has been in grain hay, or some culti- vated crop such as artichokes, the results have been excellent. Where native sod is plowed out and seeded at once, competition is frequently too severe for the best results. The farm advisor recommends, therefore, that reseeding should follow vetch and oats, Sudan grass, or some similar crop. Subterranean clovers (56, 97, 98) have found a permanent place here and are almost in- variably used, though the problem of which of the strains is best adapted to given restricted areas remains unsolved. Both inoculation and phosphorus treatments are being tested. Birdsfoot trefoil (16) is growing thriftily in a mixture of planted grasses on the Heims ranch near Inverness. Near the coast, therefore, this legume may enhance pasture carrying capacity and prolong green feed far into the sum- mer. When grown in a mixture with the taller grasses, it promises to provide an adequate lia^^ crop, which has previously come from annually seeded cereals, mostly oats. This permanent crop will save the annual cost of soil preparation and seeding while defending the slopes against er-osion. The trefoil will enrich the hay and pasture and furnish soil nitr(!gei), which should improve the growth of grass species. Improving California Kanues 15 II. CENTEAL COAST Rainfall of 40 inches occurs in this region in Santa Cruz, western Monterey, western San Luis Obispo, and central Santa Barbara counties. In eastern San Luis Obispo County it is less than 10 inches. The foothills of the Salinas Valley are also low in rainfall (10 to 20 inches), especially those of the east side. The following- list of recommended species covers mainly the more fa- vorable coastal areas : tall oatgrass (6), California brome (7), tall fescue (8), California oatgrass (9), ryegrasses (12, 13, 14, 89, 90), birdsfoot trefoils (15, 16), alfalfas (17, 18, 96), melics (22, 23), prairie grass (25), Harding grass (28), burnet (30), stipas (33, 34, 35), subterranean clovers (56, 97, 98), orchard grasses ( 63, 63 A, 63B ) , Rhodes grass ( 67 ) , perennial veldt grass ( 91 ) . Particularly significant in two nurseries near Livermore, Alameda County, was the outstanding thrift of California oatgrass (9) . This very palatable and long-season grass, doubtless once native and abundant in the region, has now been practically eliminated by farming and overgrazing. Through reseeding and proper management it could doubtless be restored and maintained at profitable grazing levels. Similar management and reseeding results could be expected to apply in Contra Costa, Solano, Marin, and other counties adjacent to the San Francisco Bay area. The two nurseries seeded in Contra Costa Coufity suffered from intense competition wdth resident annuals. Judging from experience in this county, and in similar coastal and semicoastal areas, seeding on range sod cannot be expected to produce satisfactory stands. Because the competition with resi- dent growth is too keen, seeded species cannot make adequate root or toj) development to survive the first summer. The grazing of cattle on the ranch where the one experimental planting is located in Santa Clara County has been regulated, after some years of careful observation, to meet the needs of the various range subdivisions from year to year. Such management has markedly increased the stands of California oatgrass (9), stipas (34, 35), and other perennial grasses and the better types of annual forage. The range was therefore not seriously in need of increased or improved pasturage. Livestock are fed chopped grain hay during the winter. The plots were seeded in the hope of finding suitable plants to provide this hay, wdth some aftermath of pasture, and thus avoid farming for grain hay. Although this objective has not been fully attained, the evidence justifies seeding on some land fallowed as in preparation for a crop of grain hay. Forage conditions vary markedly in San Benito County. Toward the west, rainfall and general grow^th conditions are favorable. This condition prevails to and somewhat east of the summit of the Diablo Range in the 20- to 30-inch rainfall belt. Here a number of perennial grasses are prevalent, including California oatgrass (9), and the general range problem is to divert some erodible farming lands to a stable cover of pasturable feed. The extreme south east portion of the county is similar to the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and comes under the discussion of the south central valley (p. 21). Besides having range test plots, the San Benito County farm advisor has done much experimental work to promote better feed conditions in the Bolsa, a large flat area of heavy and somewhat alkaline land extending from near IG California Agricultural Extension Circular 129 Hollister to the Pajaro River near Gilroy. Irrigation water is available by pump at comparatively low cost. Ryegrasses (13, 14) thrive without irriga- tion over all but the most saline parts of this land. In tests, even with inter- mittent irrigation, a high production of hay and pasture has been secured with seeded legumes and grasses. The production of vegetables is encroaching more and more on this Bolsa under war stress. Most likely, however, the area will eventually be converted into irrigated pastures as a summer supplement to the foothill ranges. On the Haldorn ranch located in Carmel Valley and the Tularcitos ranch, both in Monterey County, considerable acreages of grain-hay land have been seeded to ryegrasses (13, 14) , orchard grass (63) , tall fescue (8) , and common alfalfa (17) . These are mowed annually to produce hay and keep down weeds. They provide excellent pasture. Another notable conversion of marginal grainland is found on the Trescony ranch near San Lucas. Ryegrasses (13, 14) , common alfalfa (17), tall fescue (8), and bur-clover (20), make up the mix- ture. These are broadcast in barley stubble and harrowed in. The fields are mowed in the spring to reduce competition, conserve moisture, and produce hay. But the chief value lies in the production of green pasture during the summer. Grazing is so applied as to give adequate utilization of the seeded species without depleting them. Methods and results in this area of low rain- fall could well be applied in many counties where similar, or more favorable, climatic and soil conditions prevail. In the coastal and semicoastal areas of San Luis Ohispo County, where at- mospheric and rainfall conditions are favorable, a number of seeded species appear likely to prove valuable for hay and forage production if measures are taken to reduce resident competition. Toward the east the rainfall declines, and summer temperatu«res rise. Here fewer species can be used, and the more favorable sites must be selected for successful reseeding. A program of range reseeding is well under way in Santa Barbara County and is showing material results. This has consisted largely of converting erodible farming lands over to hay and pasture uses. On the Parma (Los Alamos) ranch, all erodible slopes are gradually being withdrawn from bean and grain production and are being seeded with permanent-pasture mixtures. On the north slopes and less eroded soils, growth is excellent, and the stands appear permanent. On exposed and eroded slopes more patience will be essen- tial to establish a profitable stand of grass and legumes. On a large area extending w^est from Los Alamos to Lompoc and north to Santa Maria, the soil is very unstable, and serious erosion occurs when any degree of slope is farmed to grain or cultivated crops. Further tests should reveal that this land can be returned to a permanent hay and pasture cover. Santa Barbara County is on the borderline betw^een the central and south coast regions. For the southern portion of the county, the recommendations for the south coast region would be more applicable. In all of this district the poorer soils of the hills that have been farmed out and the steeper slopes where grain farming is expensive and hazardous would doubtless be more profitable over a long term in seeded permanent pasture (and hay) crops than in grain. Seeding should follow farming so that com- petition would be reduced the first year. (See "Reseeding Practices," p. 41.) Improving California Ranges 17 III. SOUTH COAST The high mountains of interior southern California create a rather wide rainfall belt rising to over 40 inches on the summits, with a variation of from 15 to 30 inches elsewhere. Adapted species are fewer here than in the north, but this is partly compensated for by certain more tropical plants such as smilo, perennial veldt, Rhodes, molasses, and elephant grasses, which appar- ently thrive here. Tested species that are recommended are as follows : tall fescue (8), ryegrasses (12, 13, 14, 89, 90) , birdsf oot trefoils (15, 16), alfalfas (17, 96), prairie grass (25), Harding grass (28), burnet (30), stipas (33, 34, 35), subterranean clovers (56, 97, 98 — especially 97, the early strain), orchard grasses (63, 63 A, 63B), Rhodes grass (67), Dallis grass (68), peren- nial veldt grass (91). There is much experience on a large scale to prove that wide areas of very erodible hillside land in Ventura County could well be converted from grains and cultivated crops to hay and pasture. Many such areas have already been seeded to pasture mixtures and have made profitable returns in hay and pasture. Burnet (30), Harding grass (28), Rhodes grass (67), and perennial veldt grass (91), are especially promising for this useful purpose, in addition to alfalfa (17), subterranean clovers (56, 97, 98), and the ryegrasses (13, 14). Such plantings, when cut and pastured in rotation, provide green feed on almost a year-round basis. Successful practices now in operation on the Beryl- wood, Scholle, and other ranches should serve as a guide to future operations. The Ventura County farm advisor has issued a leaflet covering reseeding and other essential practices in range improvement. In Leona Valley and near Pomona, Los Angeles County, acreage seedings were made of those species most promising in the nurseries. These are being studied with respect to plant survival and the livestock management essential to their success. Except in the foothill and mountain area extending from Saugus to Lebec, the Los Angeles County farm advisor has been able to recom- mend procedures in range reseeding that will be likely to succeed in the various sections of the county. In one nursery in sandy soil near the coast in Orange County, Dallis grass (68) survived the dry summers without irrigation. This, and some success with other species, led to the preparation and seeding of 4 acres to a mixture of ryegrasses (13, 14), tall fescue (8), nodding and purple stipas (34, 35), Rhodes grass (67), Dallis grass, and perennial veldt grass (91). The initial stand was satisfactory, but this seeding is still too recent for results to be significant. Most of San Bernardino County falls in the mountain and desert regions (see p. 25) , but several nurseries were planted in the southwest portion, which falls in the south-coast region, so that the recommendations for the latter region may be expected to hold for this area. Though much of. Riverside County falls in the desert region, all the nurseries planted in this county were in the western part, where conditions resemble the south-coast region. Three interesting aspects of reseeding were developed in nurseries here. One of these, in Reed Valley near Sage, is on a Ramona sandy loam soil previously farmed to grain hay. The elevation is about 3,000 18 California Agricultural Extension Circular 129 feet, and the averag:e rainfall about 15 inches. The plot was disked before seeding. Growth responses were never good. By the third year all seeded species were gone except California brome (7), two stipas (34, 35), and Michel's grass (99). The second, in Parks Valley near Anza, is also a Ramona sandy loam soil at about 3,500 feet, with 15 inches of rain. But this nursery was seeded on fallow grainland ; and growth was good from the first, with an excellent sur- vival of species. Evidently the reserves of nitrogen made available through fallowing are as essential to a good grow^th of forage plants as they are to tlie growing of grain. The third nursery, on the Pauba ranch near Temecula, is again on Ramona sandy loam soil. The elevation is. about 1,100 feet, the rainfall about 13 inches. The land on which the nursery was planted had been farmed to grain from about 1900 to 1934, after being cleared of wild buckwheat and chamise. The topography is steep, and the soil very erodible. The land had become so badly depleted and so severely gullied by erosion that it could no longer be farmed. Growth responses from the 1939 seeding of range plants were generally poor. The center segments of each row seeded in 1940 were fertilized with nitrogen and phosphorus, and growth here was much improved. Soil conditions had improved sufficiently, however, so that all of the plants seeded in 1940 were more sturdy. At the last reading thirteen species were found to have survived from a seeded total of 47. Because of its comparatively low coastal topography and high interior ele- vations, San Diego County is adapted to a rather favorable production of range feed. But a high per-acre carrying capacity should not be anticipated. Much precarious dry-farming on both coastal and intermediate areas that are rapidly eroded and depleted of surface fertility could well be converted to a permanent grass cover. To do this w^ork effectively will require a sustained program of development. A few examples are available, and more are de- sirable. On these the operator must realize that an impoverished soil will not at once produce a large crop of forage. The program should probably begin with the stubble of cereals. On steep slopes some artificial soil-saving prac- tices, such as contours or basin listing, may be required. After soil cover is reestablished, it will then be essential to adopt grazing and cutting practices calculated to reduce weedy annuals and promote better species. A few such demonstration areas might lead to a general program of conversion. In the extreme eastern part of this county, conditions resemble those of the desert region (p. 25). IV. NORTH CENTRAL VALLEY AND FOOTHILLS From Merced County north to Tehama County the annual rainfall averages 10 to 20 inches, merging into the 20- to 30-inch rain belt in some of the lower foothills. In addition, from Merced County north, October and November rains may occur to start early feed. Across the Sierra Nevada foothills, rainfall generally rises at the rate of about 10 inches to each 1,000 feet increase in elevation. This creates a more favorable range-plant environment in the east- ern part of this region. Recommended species are : California brome (7), and tall fescue (8) where rainfall is above 15 inches; ryegrasses (12, 13, 14, 89, Improving California Ranges 19 90) ; birdsfoot trefoils (15, 16) on damp sites and deep loams ; alfalfas (17, 18) on deep soils ; bur-clover (20) ; melics (22, 23) in the foothills only ; Harding oTass (28) ; burnet (30); stipas (33, 34, 35) ; subterranean clovers (56, 97, 98 — especially 56, the niidseason strain) ; and orchard grasses (63, 63 A, 63B) at 15 inches or more of rainfall. Clearly, ryegrasses (13, 14) and subterranean clover (56, 97, 98) will suc- ceed over wide areas of the plains and intermediate elevations of IShasta County, whereas Harding grass (28) and burnet (30) will thrive on favoi-ed slopes and soils. At higher elevations tali oatgrass (6), tall fescue (8), and orchard grass (63) can be added. For the higher elevations in this county, see p. 23. According to results from two nurseries and many plot seedings made in Tehama County, domestic ryegrass (13), purple stipa (35), and subterra- nean clover (56, 97, 98) could be widely used on the shallow soils; whereas tall fescue (8), alfalfa (17), Harding grass (28), burnet (30), and orchard grass (63) could be expected to survive on the deeper soils and more favorable moisture sites. Ladak alfalfa (18) was thriftier and more durable in Bear Valley, Colusa County, than common alfalfa. This is a small valley in the western hills. Acreage seedings of domestic ryegrass (13) have been made on the Mason and Henneke ranches in Bear Valley with good results. On the Mason ranch over 600 acres of native sod were seeded with lyegrass, which has done v\ ell for four years on both hills and bottom lands. Under a rotation system of grazing by cattle, this grass has not only maintained a stand, but even increased mark- edly. Some later grazing now seems to be required to prevent the stand from becoming too dense for adequate growth under limited moisture conditions (fig. 6). These hills have an average rainfall of about 15 inches. The soil is generally heavy and has a high content of stone particles on the slopes. Reseeding with ryegrass in the foothills of western Colusa County would seem to offer some promise when accompanied by a system of grazing that will permit a part of it to seed each year. On bottom lands where seedbed prepara- tion is possible, Harding grass (28) will undoubtedly thrive. Numerous test plantings have been made by the Colusa County farm ad- visor in some of the valley lands of present low use, generally classed as alkali land. These have been under irrigation. Their success has been marked, and this project has indicated that many acres of such land could find its way into profitable pasture use. Few of these soils, except where white-alkali crys- tals occur, have been found too saline for the general pasture mixture made up of Ladino clover (40), domestic and perennial ryegrasses (13, 14), and orchard grass (63). In the more alkaline areas, birdsfoot trefoil (16) succeeds very well. Dallis grass (68) is also sometimes added. This experience is summarized here chiefly because it was initiated as a part of the range- improvement project. If all this land, now practically idle, were seeded to demonstrated irrigated-pasture mixtures, the summer pressure of livestock on the western foothills would be much relieved. In Yolo County, the Division of Agronomy has seeded several nurseries (fig. 8) made up of selections of nodding and purple stipas (34, 35) from the experimental plots at Davis and other grasses and legumes to determine 20 California Agricultural Extension Circular 129 ^^•hether fallow grainlaiKls can be converted to profitable grazing and whether seeding to range plants will serve to control such weeds as morning-glory and star thistle while maintaining soil fertility. On Cache Creek near Capay is a small planting of Harding grass (28 ) about twenty years old. This grass, with ryegrasses (13, 14), dry-farmed alfalfa (17, 18), subterranean clover (56, 97, 98), and burnet (30) could probably be used in these foothills to redeem some sloping grainlands that are subject to sfieet and gully erosion. A mixture of birdsfoot trefoil (16) and grasses seems well suited to the- revegetation of the subirrigated tidal lands in Solano County. Reseeding would greatly increase the forage production of large areas of potential pas- Fig. 8. — A range test in ^^^ Yolo (.'ountv of selorti