324 FOKEST-FODDER. 



ii. J>(iina(ie hi) Broua'uuj. 



Cattle not only graze on the grass and herbage of the soil- 

 covering of forests, but also browse on the leaves, buds, and 

 young shoots of woody plants, to an extent which will be con- 

 sidered below. That, by this browsing (especially if repeated 

 annually for long intervals of time) forest growth is seriously 

 damaged and its very existence endangered, may be proved by 

 the present condition of hundreds of acres of forest, even if the 

 fact is not accepted as self-evident. When and where browsing 

 is to be feared, and the extent to which woods are thus 

 endangered, depends on the larger or smaller supply of fodder- 

 plants on the grazing-^n-ounds, the species of cattle admitted to 

 gi-aze, the susceptibility of the woody species, the season for 

 grazing, the age of the woods and the system of management. 



Supply of Fodder. — It is obvious that when cattle do not lind 

 sufficient grass or herbage on their grazing-grounds, they will 

 attack woody growth. Thus, when cattle are driven into young 

 plantations to remove a dense growth of grass, the young forest 

 plants are secure from serious danger until the grass has been 

 sufficiently grazed-down. 



It is evidently necessary to base the number of cattle admitted 

 to graze in a forest on the amount of available fodder it contains. 

 Very many Alpine forests, for instance, have suffered greatly 

 from an excess in the number of cattle admitted into them by 

 grazing-rights. As a rule, the requirements of fodder per head 

 are proportional to the weight of the beasts ; thus, a cow of 

 average size, weighing 200 kilos (4 cwt.), requires daily for its 

 complete nourishment 7 — 8 kilos (15 — 18 lbs.) of hay ; if, as 

 Hundeshagen calculates, for every cwt. 1*8 — 2 kilos (4 to 4i lbs.) 

 of fodder are necessary. If calves are reckoned at two-thirds and 

 sheep at one-tenth the weight of a full-grown cow, 5 kilos 

 (11 lbs.) of hay are required for a calf, and 4 kilo (li| lbs.) for a 

 sheep. It is impossible to say what is the average yield of 

 fodder in forests open to grazing, but grass, equivalent to 

 700 — 1)00 kilos of hay per hectare {^^h — 7 cwt. per acre), maybe 

 cited as the supply in good localities. 



Species of Cattle. — Forest pasture is chiefly used by horned 

 cattle ; also by sheep and goats, and less frequently by horses 



