69* 



CHAPTEB III. 



UTILIZATION OP LEAVES, TWIGS AND ROOTS OP 



TREES. 



ACCORDING to Ebermayer, Weber, Eamann, Councler, Emeis 

 and others, leaves and twigs contain large quantities of 

 nitrogenous compounds, carbohydrates and mineral salts. In 

 using twigs and leaves for fodder* the above represent the 

 actual nutritive value of these plant-parts, for the cell-walls 

 are usually indigestible. These substances are most abundant 

 at the season when the buds are opening and the leaves un- 

 folding; at the close of the growing-season, most of them 

 return into the permanent shoots, as reserve-material. The 

 nutritive value of leaves and twigs, therefore, depends chiefly 

 on the season at which they are utilised ; fallen leaves are so 

 unnutritious, as to be .fit only for litter. [At the same time, 

 in evergreen broadleaved trees, nutriment is stored during 

 winter in the foliage and twigs, as such trees as Qnercus dilatata, 

 Pnums Piiddum, etc., are lopped regularly in the Himalayas, 

 for winter-fodder. Tr.] In leafless trees, the yearling shoots 

 are most nutritive ; branches become less nutritive, the thicker 

 they are ; those 1 to 2 c.m. thick have hardly any value as 

 fodder. Species that are most exposed in forest-pasture to the 

 bite of cattle, supply the best fodder ; ash, poplars, willows 

 (especially Salix alba, Caprea, riteUina, peiitandra), limes, 

 maples and oaks, are good; beech and elms yield good 

 fodder, as long as the leaves are young ; the Canadian poplar 

 is said to yield the best fodder. Among conifers, the silver- 

 fir is best, but the spruce also is lopped for fodder, the larch 

 least of all. The species of cattle should be considered also ; 

 for sheep and goats eat all leaves, while horned cattle are 

 more particular. 



* Dimitz, " Futtcrlaub u. KutkTrdsitr." /entralblatt f. d. i?o*. Korstwrsi'ii. 

 1894. 



