PASTURE. 537 



of the woody plants is about finished, i.e. from the end of May 

 till the middle of July. In the higher Alpine pastures, however, 

 the grass is not fully grown till the second half of June. If 

 cattle are brought into the forest only when the grass has become 

 tough and there is little after-growth, they will certainly 

 browse on woody plants. Cattle should not be driven into the 

 forest in the morning before the dew has nearly dried from off 

 the grass, or else they will attack the woody plants ; they will 

 also do so in wet weather. 



System of Management. — The damage done by pasture is very 

 slight in even-aged woods, provided the cattle are only admitted 

 into compartments where the trees have grown beyond their 

 reach, and all young woods are closed to them. Plantations 

 suffer much more from browsing than natural regeneration or 

 sown areas, where the plants are much more numerous. The 

 comparative duration of the close-time depends on the rate of 

 growth of the young plants, and therefore on the quality of the 

 locality, the species of tree, the nature of the wood (whether 

 from seed or plantation), the kind of wood (coppice or high 

 forest), and also the species of cattle. Selection woods appear, 

 at first sight, to be less favourable for pasture than those 

 which are even-aged, for in them regeneration is carried on 

 at the same time all over the forest. AYhen, however, cattle 

 remain night and day in the forest without herdsmen, as in 

 most Alpine regions, selection forest withstands the danger 

 better than even-aged woods. Even-aged, densely-stocked 

 spruce forests are destitute of herbage, which is found only on 

 the reproduction-areas that are closed against cattle. It is, 

 however, a matter of everyday experience that no amount of care 

 in fencing will always protect these areas. In natural regenera- 

 tion in a selection forest, not only is there far more fodder 

 produced, but damage by cattle is more widely distributed. 



If the close-time for young woods is j^rolonged until the 

 crown of the woody plants is beyond the reach of the grazing 

 animals, there can be no object in admitting them to the forest, 

 for in dense even-aged woods of poles and saplings there is no 

 herbage. The forester has, therefore, no interest now-a-days in 

 the question of a permanent close-time for a wood. On the other 

 hand, the existence of rights to pasturage necessitates an enquiry 



