Rearing cattle in the Tajima area of Hyogo prefecture, western Japan, is closely connected with rice cultivation in terraced fields .This paper describes how the farmers recognize and utiliz ethe mountainous environment in rearing-cattle, with special reference to the farmers' knowledge regarding the wild grasses which constitute the major fodder of the cattle. Farmers utilize as much straw and wild grasses as possible, which are produced in the terraced fields ,especially wild grasses growing on the slopes and ridges between the rice fields .Farmers also obtain fodder from non-cattle-rearing farmers, so that the area of terraced rice-fields as a whole supports cat tie-rearing. The food preference test carried out on cattle revealed that farmers have precise knowledge concerning the cattle's preference among wild grasses. Especially, mixtures of several wild grass species are highly valued by the farmers as cattle fodder, and the cattle actually show high preference for these mixtures.
