42 PROTECTION AGAINST MAN. 



in the autumn, but as the grass at that season is hard and 

 unnutritious, forest-pasture is chiefly used when the herbage 

 is best and most plentiful, from the end of May till the middle 

 of July. 



In the plains and lower hills of extra-tropical India, forest 

 grazing is chiefly confined to the cold and dry seasons, but 

 varies with localities. 



In the Himalayas, grazing is carried on in the upper forests 

 from 8,000 to 10,000 feet above sea-level, between May and 

 September, the animals coming down in the cold season below 

 the snow-level. 



(10) State of the Weather. 



During very dry or very wet weather, or in the morning, 

 while heavy dew is on the ground, cattle prefer the leaves of 

 trees to herbage. The damage done to the roots of trees by 

 the tread of cattle is also greatest in wet weather. 



(11) Other Considerations. 



Milch cattle require the best grazing grounds, and those 

 nearest to the villages ; then come young cattle. Beasts of 

 draught can go further and put up with inferior pasture. 

 Sheep can be pastured in places that are more remote from 

 the farmsteads than those used for cattle pasture. 



Horned cattle and especially buffaloes like moist pastures, 

 and the latter will eat very coarse herbage. Horses prefer 

 short grass on old roads to that grown on loose forest soil. 

 Sheep prefer even drier herbage, in elevated lands exposed to 

 full light, such as heather-land, and are very liable to disease 

 if fed on moister lands. 



Horned cattle will not graze readily after sheep, and attack 

 woody growth in preference to grass where sheep have been 

 grazing. 



Cattle accustomed from their youth to forest grazing do* 

 more damage than others which seldom come into the forest. 

 Less damage is done when the herds are kept well together, 

 and this is most difficult to secure in the case of goats and 

 easiest with sheep. 



When one considers all the various circumstances which 



