FOREST PASTURE. 85 



B. Forest Pasture.* 



(1) General Account. 



Forest pasture, except in mountainous districts, where the 

 area of cultivable land is very limited, is no longer so impor- 

 tant as was formerly the case ; cultivators object to their cattle 

 becoming thin and wiry in roaming about the forests, to their 

 cows yielding less milk than when kept at home, to the loss of 

 valuable manure, and to the increased danger from disease. 



In backward countries, however, forest pasture is still pre- 

 valent, and it is therefore necessary to draw up rules for its 

 exercise with the least possible amount of injury to forests, 

 as, when unrestricted, it is incompatible with the existence of 

 forests. To a certain extent, however, some good may be 

 done to forests by cattle, by keeping down a rank growth of 

 grass and herbage, which interferes with reproduction, and 

 by breaking through and scattering the dense layer of needles 

 in coniferous forests, and thus exposing the mineral soil for the 

 rooting of seedlings. Browsing on advance-growth of subsidiary 

 species or softwoods, which it is desirable to keep in check in 

 favour of more valuable species, may also be sometimes 

 useful.! 



The damage done to forests by the grazing and browsing of 

 domestic animals extends to the soil, especially on slopes, and 

 standing-crop ; to the roads and other means of communication, 

 and the boundaries, ditches, fences, etc. 



The soil of a forest suffers chemically, becoming impoverished 

 in potash, phosphorus, and nitrogen by the removal of the 

 grass ; and physically, becoming hardened owing to the 

 tread of the grazing animals, and the consequent insufficient 

 aeration of the humus in process of formation. The dung 

 left by the animals on the ground is a quite inadequate com- 

 pensation for the reduction in fertility of the soil consequent 

 on their admission to the forest. The woods are injured in 



* Hundeshagen, J. C., " Die Waldweide u. Waldstreu." Tubingen, 1830. 



t In "Forest Utilisation," p. 137, Fernandez states that goats are useful to 

 regeneration in mature Acacia, arabica (babul) forests. When the pods are 

 falling, the seeds swallowed by the goats and excreted germinate without delay, 

 whilst other seeds require at least a whole year to sprout, during which they are 

 exposed to destruction, chiefly by insects. 



P 2 



