SI 4 GKAZING IN FORESTS. 



Bat in any case the number of cattle allowed therein must be 

 limited in proportion to the area ; and in order to prevent the 

 8oil from being caked, beaten hard by the hoofs of the animals, 

 and rendered bare of low yegetation, and to guard against the 

 trees themselves being attacked after the grass has been complete- 

 ly browsed down, it must be made a rule never to let in more 

 than one cow for every 2^ acres in those portions of a forest, in 

 ■which the standing crop has grown up out of the reach of cattle 

 and is composed of stems sufficiently thick to resist being bent 

 down. This precautionary measure must be adopted both in the 

 interests of the cattle and of the forests. 



No forest crop is safe against cattle until it has reached the 

 pole stage. In other words, cattle may not be admitted into a 

 high forest before it is at least 40 years old. And more than 

 this, cantons stocked with old timber ought also to be closed 

 against grazing, say 10 years before they are felled. This precau- 

 tion is necessary to enable the soil to regain its original freeness 

 and thus become fit for the reception of seed. Hence the Rota- 

 tion for forestSj in which grazing is permitted, ought to be lo"ng. 

 Allowing 50 years for each canton to be kept closed, that is, 

 closed against cattle, it would remain open for grazing for only 

 50 years during a Rotation of 1 00 years, 100 years during a Rota- 

 tion of 150 years, and 150 years during a Rotation of 200 years, 

 the portion of the forest kept open for grazing being respectively 

 one half, two-thirds and three-fourths. 



What we have said with reference to high forests applies, it 

 will be perceived, also to those copses, in which, as an exceptional 

 measure, grazing is permitted. It is not only during the first 10, 

 3 2 or 1 5 years of the life of the underwood that cattle must be 

 kept out at all hazards, but also during the last S, 4 or 5 years 

 immediately preceding its exploitation. If this rule were neg- 

 lected, seedlings of the valuable species would have no chance of 

 coming up and the forest would go on steadily deteriorating. 

 Closing any portion of a forest against grazing can only be eSec- 

 tive, if that portion has proper boundaries, such as ravines, ditch- 

 es, walls or any other kind of fence. Hence it is very necessary 

 in those high forests in which grazing is allowed, to form the 

 Blocks each in one piece, and to enclose them with good bounda- 

 ries In the absence of natural boundary lines difficult for cattle 

 to get over, the Organisatiou Project ought to provide for the 



