PANNAGE. 31 



they may be eaten on the ground in the forest by swine 

 (pannage), or by deer. The rules for the protection oL the 

 forest are as follows : — 



A. Collection by Hand. 



Where regeneration by seed is expected, or where swine or 

 deer are to be fed in a forest, fruits should not be collected 

 for other purposes. Acorns when eaten in large quantities 

 are poisonous to young cattle. Beasts over thtee years old are 

 seldom thus affected. Hence, the collection of acorns in 

 forests open to pasture is most beneficial, and they may be 

 used advantageously for feeding domestic pigs. 



Forest guards must watch most assiduously during the 

 fruit-collecting season. 



All injuries to the trees during the collection of the seed 

 must be strictly forbidden. These are : beating trees with 

 axes; dragging down fruit-laden branches; use of climbing- 

 irons, etc. The bad effects of the latter on the quality of the 

 wood may be seen from Fig. 18, each wound made by the iron 

 introducing decay into the timber. Smooth-barked species 

 such as beech and Weymouth pine suffer most in this way ; 

 so does the sweet chestnut. 



The work must be stopped during frost, when the branches 

 are easily broken. 



B. Pannage. 



Pannage, or the feeding of swine on the mast of a forest, 

 consisting of fallen acorns, beech-nuts, chestnuts, etc., was 

 formerly a very important industry, but is now becoming less 

 frequent in the forests of Europe. It still prevails in the New 

 Forest, where about 5,000 pigs are turned into the woods in 

 good mast-years, from the 14th Sept. to the 8th Nov. 



Swine damage forests in the following ways : — 



(a) Eating-up mast in seeding-fellings. 



{b) Uprooting young plants, breaking off weak stems, 

 abrading the bark oft" poles, and exposing and gnawing roots 

 of valuable forest species. All these injuries are chiefly felt 

 in natural regeneration-fellings, and in thinnings in young 

 woods, on loose sandy or shallow soils, on steep slopes, etc. 



