2 INTRODUCTION. 



forests; Forest Protection, how to guard them against injurious 

 external influences, and is followed by Forest Utilisation, which 

 shows how to utilise a forest in the most suitable manner. 

 These three branches of Forestry are also included in the 

 term Forest Production, while the remaining branches are 

 comprised under Forest Management, which includes Mensura- 

 tion and Valuation of Forests, Working -Plans, and Political 

 Economy applied to forests, which may be termed Forest 

 Policy. 



3. HISTORICAL NOTICE. 



The first trace in history of forest protection consists in that 

 afforded to sacred groves and trees. We read of such groves 

 in the Bible and in Tacitus, and they still exist in India, 

 especially in the hill-tracts south of Assam. In Europe, the 

 oak and lime appear to have been the trees looked upon as 

 most sacred, and in the Himalayas, the deodar (God's tree). 



The Ban forests of the middle ages, established by the 

 Emperors of Germany and other royal or noble personages 

 who wished to secure sufficient tracts of forest for the pre- 

 servation of deer and other game, formed the next stage. 

 The Windsor, Epping, and Dean forests, the New Forest, and 

 some other smaller forest areas are the relics of former 

 extensive tracts reserved as hunting-grounds by the Norman 

 kings of England. 



The forest laws of the middle ages, besides being chiefly 

 concerned in the preservation of game, contain many provisions 

 regarding boundaries, forest fires, mast, forest pasture, damage 

 to trees, etc. In the Salzburg Forest Ordinance* of 1524, for 

 instance, directions are given regarding boundary marks. In 

 a Bavarian forest ordinance of 1568, the influence of the west 

 wind on the natural regeneration of forests is referred to, and 

 directions are given to leave a protective belt of trees to the 

 west of a felling-area. 



In 1665, the famous Ordonnance des fore.ts proposed by 

 Colbert was sanctioned by Louis XIV, and, amongst other 

 improvements, put an end to the grazing of sheep and goats 

 in the French Crown forests. 



H. Eding, "jDie Rechtsverhaltnisse des Waldcs." Berlin, 1874, p. 3fi. 



