NATIONAL FOREST RESOURCES 203 



brush and is known collectively as "browse"; cattle 

 and horses subsist mainly upon grass, flowering 

 plants and herbs. Sheep feel more at home on 

 high mountain slopes, while cattle and horses range 

 usually on the lower slopes and in the valleys, and 

 especially in the broad meadows, around lakes and 

 along streams. Sheep are more apt to find feed 

 in the forests, that is under the trees ; cattle prefer 

 the open; they usually avoid the forest, preferring 

 to keep out on the open meadows and grassy slopes. 

 Naturally some ranges have feed at some seasons 

 of the year and other ranges at other seasons. 

 Some of the National Forests in California extend 

 from an elevation of a few hundred feet in the foot- 

 hills of the great valleys to an elevation of more 

 than 10,000 feet at the crest of the Sierra Nevada 

 Mountains. The lower foothills afford excellent 

 feed soon after the beginning of the fall rains in 

 November and, due to the very mild winter which 

 this region enjoys, there is excellent feed in Feb- 

 ruary and March. This is known as winter range. 

 The medium high slopes of the mountains have a 

 later growing season and the sheep and cattle 

 reach there about June and stay until August or 

 September. Still higher up the forage matures 



