THE FARM UNIT FOR PASTURAGE LANDS.
The grass is so scanty that the herdsman must have a large area for the support of his stock. In general a quarter section of land alone is of no value to him; the pasturage it affords is entirely inadequate to the wants of a herd that the poorest man needs for his support.
Four square miles may be considered as the minimum amount necessary for a pasturage farm, and a still greater amount is necessary for the larger part of the lands; that is, pasturage farms, to be of any practicable value, must be of at least 2,560 acres, and in many districts they must be much larger.[1]
[1] For the determination of the proper unit for pasturage farms the writer has conferred with many persons living in the Rocky Mountain Region who have had experience. His own observations have been extensive, and for many years while conducting surveys and making long journeys through the Arid Region this question has been uppermost in his mind. He fears that this estimate will disappoint many of his western friends, who will think he has placed the minimum too low, but after making the most thorough examination of the subject possible he believes the amount to be sufficient for the best pasturage lands, especially such as are adjacent to the minor streams of the general drainage, and when these have been taken by actual settlers the size of the pasturage farms may be increased as experience proves necessary.