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250 FORESTRY IN FRANCE. 
and the inhabitants of the communes are specially prohibited by 
law from admitting their own goats and sheep into their forests ; 
but the Government has the power to sanction the grazing of sheep 
(not goats) in certain localities under exceptional circumstances. 
Permission to drive sheep into the State forests is, however, very 
rarely accorded, except in seasons of extraordinary draught, when 
the flocks of the neighbouring communes are sometimes admitted 
for a single season. But in the case of the communal forests, such 
temporary sanction is, of necessity, more freely accorded ; for the 
forests belong to the inhabitants; and even though their true 
interests might be better served by keeping out their sheep entirely, 
it is not found possible to change their pastoral habits all at once ; 
and, on this account, permission has frequently to be granted them 
to graze their sheep in their forests, either for a single year, or 
for periods up to five years. They can, however, graze their own 
horned cattle, horses, ponies, donkeys, and pigs there without 
special permission ; and they usually do so on payment of a fee 
into the communal treasury, According to the latest available 
record, the number of animals of all kinds thus admitted in a single 
year was as follows, viz. :— 
Horned cattle, horses, ponies, and donkeys, . 359,164 
Pigs, : : . . ; ; 48,388 
Sheep (by special sanction), . ; ; . 936,960 
The animals can, however, only be grazed in places which have been 
declared out of danger by the forest officers, and their numbers can 
be limited with reference to the quantity of grass available ; but it 
is not always possible to enforce these restrictions rigidly; and the 
forests, in certain regions, have much to contend with, from the 
extent to which grazing is practised. The receipts by the com- 
munal treasuries on this account, have been estimated at 4s. 6d. per 
head of large cattle, 3s. 1ld. per pig, and Is. per sheep ; but this 
only represents an average revenue of 10d. per acre of the area 
grazed over, whereas wood yields, on an average, about 8s. 4d. per 
acre ; and it seems probable that this consideration may gradually 
lead, in the agricultural districts at any rate, to the abandonment of 
the practise of pasturing cattle on forest lands. There is no doubt 
that when the grazing, even of large cattle, is permitted, it is carried 
on at the expense of the crop of wood; and that where it is 
practised to any considerable extent, the forest, properly so called, 
