William, you put the infinity symbol over the selected f-stop on the left, and the DOF will stretch from the distance shown over the selected f-stop on the right all the way to infinity.
At that point, your lens will be focussed at the hyperfocal distance for the selected f-stop, which is twice the distance indicated on the right.
Practical example, my
AI 24mm f/2.8:
I select f/22 (labeled in orange). If I set the focussing ring so that the infinity symbol is over the left orange marker, the right orange marker will have 0.5m printed above it. Hence, the DOF stretches from 0.5 m to infinity. The lens is focused at the hyperfocal distance for f/22, which is about 1m.
Note: this is for 35mm. The DOF is smaller with the DX format, assuming that you enlarge digital shots to the same size as 35mm negatives. When using DOF charts with DX you can simply substitute the "effective" (35mm equivalent) focal lenght. The DOF scales on lenses can't be converted easily, one has to guess and make some allowance.
Cheers
Steffen.