32 PROTECTION AGAINST MAN. 



Swine are useful to forests in the preparation of the soil 

 for seed, by removing the covering of dead leaves and ex- 

 posing the mineral soil, and by burying acorns and other 

 fruits ; also by trampling dead leaves into the soil, which is 

 of importance in places exposed to winds, and by destroying 

 mice and certain insects hibernating or moving in the 

 soil-covering. 



Fig. 18. Section of a Scots pine injured by climbing-irons. 



(a) Points of injury. 



(6) Concave annual rings of wood occluding wounds. 



(c) Brown-coloured wood below the wounds, showing consequent decay. 



The protective rules for pannage are : 



(a) Exclusion from the following places: Seeding-fellings, 

 except when seed is very abundant; dry loose soils in the 

 case of swine driven in to feed exclusively on fungi, worms, 

 insects, etc. ; places where the mast is reserved for deer or 

 wild pigs. 



(b) Compartments opened for pannage should as nearly as 

 possible adjoin one another, so that the swine may not 

 wander uselessly through the forest. They should not be 

 allowed to remain long in compartments without mast, as 

 they then proceed to bark the trees. 



