5G4. paxnagp:. 



Ill Germauy, altliou^'h a certaiii reverence for antiquity pre- 

 served many old oaks np to the present century, pannage had 

 lost much of its former importance even in the 18th century. 

 This was owing to the increasing value of timher, the prolonged 

 had treatment of forests by over-felling and pasture, and the 

 fact that a large part of the broad-leaved woods had disappeared. 

 Its disuse was also hastened by the increasing cultivation of 

 potatoes, which offered the peasant, independently of the forest, 

 a cheap means of fattening his pigs. However, by stall-feeding, 

 the firm fat pork due to pannage is no longer produced, and in 

 rich mast-years the larger tracts of broad -leaved forest are still 

 in great demand for fattening pigs. 



2. Diji'croit Kinds and (jKdlitics of Maat. 



Pannage pre-supposes mature beech- and oak-woods, and can 

 obviously be utilized only in seed-years. In sterile years, pigs 

 may obtain enough food in forests to keep them alive ; their 

 fodder is then termed ground-mast,* and comprises worms, 

 larviB and pupne of insects, fungi, mice, c^'C, Avhich sometimes 

 allord them sufficient food. Mast proper f consists of acorns, 

 beechnuts, wild fruits and hazel-nuts. 



The quality of mast varies considerably with the year, locality, 

 age of the trees, whether they are grown in dense woods or isolated 

 (as over coppice or in high forest) ; in the latter an acre pro- 

 duces a much heavier crop of mast than in the former. Other 

 factors also intervene, and there is generally less oak-mast than 

 beech-mast, but the former is of better quality. Formerly, 

 owing to the number of trees with large crowns fully exposed to 

 the light, the quality of mast was better than at present. The 

 superior quality of acorns to beech-mast is due to the fact, that 

 the latter is heating to the animals, which require to be watered 

 more frequently than when fed on oak-mast. Beech contains 

 much oil, as well as starch, and this is more adapted to fatten 

 swine than to form Hesh. Hence, beech-mast produces as fat 

 pigs as oak-mast, but their flesh is softer and not so firm and 

 marbled as when they are fed on acorns. 



* III German. Untcruiaxt, Erdmml or Wuhl. 

 t 111 Ceiuiaii, Oberiiiiist or Eckerisch. 



