Degree of Herbage Selection by Grazing Cattle

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Abstract
It is assumed generally that animals graze selectively. Some qualitative indications of selective grazing have been recorded in the literature, but there are available no quantitative data which demonstrate the extent to which it occurs. In experiments reported in 1749, Hesselgren (4) offered hundreds of plant species, both singly and in mixtures, to sheep, cattle, goats, horses, and pigs. Goats and sheep were less, and swine were more, discriminating than the other species studied. No common factor explained the acceptance or refusal of a particular plant by livestock. Plants characterized as "aromatic" were not relished, and it was observed that sheep did not discriminate between poisonous and nonpoisonous plants.

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