17-1 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



long grass ; and it is for this reason that they do no 

 harm to the pasture on which they live, as they can 

 only bite off the tops of the young grass. They do 

 not stir the roots, and for this reason scarcely hurt the 

 growth ; instead of which, the sheep and the goat 

 bite so close, that they destroy the stalk and spoil the 

 root. Besides, the horse chooses the most delicate 

 grass, and leaves the largest to grow, the stalks of 

 which are hard. The ox, on the other hand, bites 

 these thick stalks, and by little and little destroys the 

 coarse grass ; so that, at the end of some years, the 

 field on which the horse has lived becomes a very bad 

 one, whilst that on which the ox has broused, becomes 

 fine pasture. 



