Domestic animals are frequently classed as to the amount of injury they 

 inflict on the woodlot. From the standpoint of browsing the degree of injury may 

 be placed in the following order: Goats and sheep, horses, cattle, swine, the first 

 mentioned being the most injurious and the last being least. 



Injurious effects of allowing stock to run in the woodlot may be discussed in 

 its relation to the soil, the reproduction of young growth and the older trees. 



Soil. While the effects of grazing on the soil miay be least noticeable, it is 



Fig. 5. — Tops of trees dying from effects of stock grazing. 



very important. Destruction of young growth soon opens the woodlot to drying 

 winds which carry off the humus-forming leaves and greatly lessen the moisture 

 content of the soil. Light begins to enter and xeach the ground, causing grass 

 and weeds to sitart which soon develop a stiff sod. Trampling of the soil causes 

 it to become impervious, thus allowing the water to run off' rapidly instead of being 

 held in the soil as is the case in normal conditions. After these unfavorable con- 

 ditions have come to prevail, the tree seeds find it very hard to germinate and 

 soon there is no reproduction taking place. 



