FOREST PASTURE. 87 



grazing animals, it should be noted, that: horses prefer oak- 

 foliage and avoid that of the lime ; sheep appear to prefer 

 light-demanding species, even the birch and Scots pine; 

 young lambs, the leaves of robinia ; goats are not particular, 

 and even browse on the poisonous yew without injury, in 

 India, however, they succumb to the foliage of Rhododendron 

 campanulatum. 



Another peculiarity of horned cattle is to prefer plants intro- 

 duced into pure woods, such as ash or hornbeam in beech 

 forests, or exotics planted among native woods. 



The vegetable monstrosities resulting from browsing are 

 very striking to the eye ; rounded bushes, which sometimes 

 broaden out till some leading shoots in their centre escape and 

 grow into trees, are frequent eyesores wherever forest pasture 

 is practised. 



Shallow-rooted plants such as the spruce, in spring, suffer 

 most from the tread of the animals. 



(3) Age of Trees. 



Young plants suffer most. In older woods, without under- 

 growth, the chief injury is done by the hardening of the soil 

 owing to the tread of the animals. The trees suffer from 

 browsing until the foliage is beyond the reach of the animals, 

 and the age at which this happens depends on the rate of 

 growth, the conditions of the locality and the kind of animal. 



(4) System of Management. 



In the case of the Selection system, grazing is most dangerous ; 

 then come in descending order of danger : Group system, 

 Coppice-ivith- Standards, Coppice, Shelter-wood Compartment 

 and Clear-cutting systems. Pollarding is the most favourable 

 system to adopt on land open to grazing, as young pollard- 

 shoots are out of the reach of the cattle; pollards are 

 regenerated by planting taller transplants, or cuttings, than 

 in other systems, and the plants should at first be securely 

 fenced against cattle, which might injure them by rubbing 

 against them, or gnawing their bark. The uneven-aged 

 systems of High Forest, such as the Selection and Group 



