178 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 



PASTURAGE 



Pasturing in the forests is almost universal in all settled 

 portions of our country, and even many of the remote 

 districts, like those of the Rockies, Cascades, and Sierra 

 Nevadas, furnish summer feed to several millions of sheep 

 and cattle. In the forest of the longleaf pine in the 

 South the cattle feed on rough pine-grass, which is 

 renewed and also protected against a cover of pine needles 

 by being burned over from time to time. 



Though the cattle and sheep do not eat the pine, they 

 trample down seedlings, and thus hinder the starting of 

 young growth. This, however, is made up in part by 

 the good they do in breaking the cover of dead leaves, 

 etc., and thus making it possible for the seed of the pine 

 to find the ground. On the other hand, fires set for their 

 benefit do damage in killing seedlings and young trees, 

 and scorching the " feet " of the old. 



In our hardwoods the cattle and sheep live as much by 

 browsing off the leaves and fresh shoots of young trees 

 as by feeding on grass, and, therefore, pasturing in these 

 woods always hinders the starting of young growth arid 

 leads to a crippling of many of those saplings which 

 continue to live in spite of injury. For this reason it 

 is generally a bad plan to pasture cattle in the woods. 

 Where, however, this appears still advisable or necessary 

 the work in the woods should be so regulated that the 



