520 FUKEST-FODDER. 



En^'ailiuf and the Tyrol arc always so (lostructivc to the forests. 

 So, also, cattle reared from their youth in forests attack woody 

 gi-Qwth much more than cattle accustomed to meadows and only 

 occasionally driven into the forest. Milch and hrecdin«,' cattle 

 always require the best fodder, and satisfy their hunger without 

 wandering far ; young cattle thrive on inferior herbage, and it is 

 even beneficial to them to be driven far into the fores-t for their 

 fodder. 



Species of Tree. — In general, broad-leaved species sufter more 

 from cattle than conifers ; among them, it is (unless they possess 

 acid or bitter sap) the quick-growing, sappy and chiefly light- 

 demanding species which are most attacked, such as ash, aspen, 

 sallow, sycamore ; also hornbeam. These species are attacked 

 when mixed here and there with beech, even where there is 

 plenty of herbage. It is characteristic of cattle to prefer locally 

 rare woody species to those of which a wood is chiefly composed. 

 Whilst in districts where beech predominates, it rarely sufters 

 provided there is plenty of grass, beech-plants springing up in 

 coniferous woods with scanty herbage are so freely attacked as to 

 grow into abnormal shapes, which can be hardly recognised as 

 trees. The steady diminution and approaching extermination of 

 beech and silver-fir in the Alpine forests are due, partly to the 

 clear-cutting system, and partly to forest pasture. Oak and 

 alder are less liable to attack than the species already mentioned, 

 and except the alder, the birch is the only P^uropean forest tree 

 which is rarely browsed by horned cattle. Sheep spare beech 

 more than horned cattle, but they attack light-demanding species 

 freely, even the birch. The goat is impartial in its taste for 

 woody species. Among conifers, silver-fir and larch arc more 

 endangered than spruce and the various species of pine, wliicli 

 latter suffer least from browsing. The spruce escapes more 

 easily than the softer silver-fir ; the larch grows most rapidly out 

 of diingcr, as tlic larch forests of "Wallis and the Engadine show. 



Season for Pasture. — Pasture is most dangerous to woody growth 

 at two periods of the year : first, in the spring, when the young 

 shoots appear and the foliage is tender and most nutritive ; 

 again, late in the autumn, when the grass has become hard or 

 scanty. The least damage is therefore done at the season when 

 the grass is still soft and juicy, and the annual upward growth 



