RIGHT-HOLDERS' WOOD. 441 



The legality of all claims for wood, as a right, must be proved 

 first by reference to the map or record-book of the forest 

 rights ; this enquiry is often a serious business when the 

 right-holders' wood has to be distributed in small lots among a 

 number of persons. In such cases, in many districts, fixed days 

 are assigned for the right-holders to attend the forest-manager 

 and make a declaration of their demands. This declaration 

 must be examined, rectified, and if needful referred to the 

 superior officials for confirmation. Every delivery of wood to 

 right-holders must be made on presentation of a written order 

 from the forest-manager, and a receipt for the wood must be 

 given by the right-holder. 



If the right is to firewood, the quantity and quality of the 

 wood being stated, the forest-owner is least seriously affected 

 by the right ; and in the next degree, when the right is to the 

 kind of timber prevalent in the forest. If, however, the right 

 is to all wood of a certain class, for instance, all branches and 

 round billets, all the brushwood or stump-wood of a felling- 

 area if also the quantity depends on the manner in which the 

 wood is converted and sorted the distribution and supervision 

 of the right-holders' wood becomes more arduous, and often 

 involves complaints of short measure from the right-holders. 

 Great care must be taken during the conversion and sorting 

 of the produce ; wherever also the dimensions of the right- 

 holders' wood are given precisely in the statement of rights, 

 this must be attended to carefully during the conversion. 

 The most hurtful rights are those that are not fixed in 

 quantity, but only by the requirements of the right-holders. 

 If such rights to firewood should burden a forest and no legal 

 definition can be obtained of their extent, an annual com- 

 putation must be made of the volume required by each right- 

 holder, or for each class of household. This burdens the 

 manager with a tedious undertaking, beset with all kinds of 

 difficulties. 



Deliveries of building-timber to right-holders are of a 

 similar nature. Such a right can be limited only to the actual 

 requirements of the right-holder, according to the number and 

 dimensions of the buildings in question. It is the duty of the 

 forest officials to ascertain carefully the actual requirements of 



