Aspects of Buropean Forestry. 55 



any Forsterei, applications are received and the position awarded 

 to the oldest in line. However transfer is only permissible with- 

 in the Regierungsbezirk. 



In most cases Oberforster and Forster alike have substantial 

 emoluments in the nature of free houses, barns, pastures, forage, 

 arable land, and the like. The office building, a simple unpre- 

 tentious structure is placed close to the Oberforsterei. Each 

 Ranger station has an office room for the transaction of business 

 by the Ranger. 



The Oberforsterei — headquarters for each Forest — is placed 

 entirely with reference to the needs of the Forest. Usually it is 

 as near to the geographical centre as possible ; very often far away 

 from any other habitation. This has its material drawbacks 

 where children are to be educated and the present trend is there- 

 fore, toward a more far sighted placing of headquarters with 

 reference to mail and telegraph and telephone facilities and to 

 social and educational factors which play such an important role 

 in keeping the men satisfied with their positions. 



Each Oberforster has one clerk — a Forstaufseher (Assistant 

 Ranger) who, when office work is slack, helps in the field. But 

 office work is never slack; more often the supervisor must jump 

 in and do routine work himself ; for he can not call a Ranger out 

 of his Schutzbezirk to help. 



The office methods are frankly crude and cumbersome. In- 

 stead of typewriters and carbon copies and a vertical filing case, 

 most letters and reports are written by hand, extracts or resumes 

 made by hand and filed in big blue back covers on shelves. Of 

 course this has one certain result — the amount of correspondence 

 is reduced to a minimum. Indeed the instructions* are explicit 

 that letters are to be few and short — no long titles, no long, 

 courtly phrases, addresses are merely "To the Oberforster in 

 " and that as far as possible business is to be trans- 

 acted verbally. To this end the Ranger stations are being con- 

 nected with each other and with the Oberforster by telephone 

 and to this end the Forests are kept small in size so that the 

 Oberforster may easily and frequently visit each Ranger and be 

 in constant close touch with all the work on his Forest. In view 

 of such frequent inspection no diary is required of the Rangers 

 nor, in his turn of the Oberforster. 



*See Schlieckmann : "Handbuch der Staatsforstvervvaltung in Preussen." 



