THE STATE FORESTS OF SAXONY. 45 



A considerable amount of the rougher and smaller classes 

 of wood is sold as firewood directly to the consumers, and 

 in the country districts this forms the chief fuel. Practically all 

 the wood disposed of annually by the State forests is sold by 

 auction sales, which are conducted by the Forstmeister and the 

 Forstrentamt jointly. The sale is always advertised in the local 

 papers, and likely buyers are supplied with catalogues in which 

 every lot is recorded, — the position of the timber in the wood, the 

 class as regards size and the exact contents being given. Every 

 effort is made to sell timber as soon after felling as is practicable, 

 so that there may not be an accumulation of felled wood 

 scattered through the forest, and, besides, as the logs are measured 

 by the woodmen immediately after felling, if left for any length 

 of time, especially in summer, an undesirable discrepancy might 

 occur between the catalogued size and the actual size at the time 

 of sale. In special cases where it is difficult to obtain good 

 prices for the larger classes of timber, a joint district sale is 

 held, in which the best lots out of each component Revier are 

 put up. This is done in order to attract large buyers who 

 would perhaps not find sufficient timber of a particular size 

 for their requirements in the sale of a single Revier. 



Roads. — One particularly obvious factor amongst the different 

 causes which contribute to the high prices gained for wood in 

 Saxony, is the condition of the forest roads. Those who have 

 not seen them will have difficulty in understanding fully what 

 a vast amount of money has been laid out on these forest roads, 

 and with what skill the work has been executed. Although the 

 network of roads is not yet complete the accessibility of felled 

 timber, even in the wildest parts of the Erzgebirge, is far better 

 than is usually found in this country even on land suited to 

 easy transport. As an object lesson upon the good return 

 that money expended upon skilfully constructed forest roads is 

 almost certain to yield, the State forests of Saxony stand out 

 with remarkable clearness. Ordinary railways and light 

 railways are also well developed, the latter especially being 

 of great service to the forests, as they penetrate areas the 

 population of which would not suffice to support the running 

 costs of anything more than an economically managed narrow- 

 gauge line. 



It would be impossible to conclude this account of Saxon 

 forestry, rough and imperfect though it is, without a word 



