2 FORESTRY 



following broad-leaved trees are indigenous in Britain : Oak, 

 Ash, Beech, Wych Elm, Birch, Aspen, Hazel, and Alder. 

 The Sc<t3 Pine and Yew appear to be the only conifers 

 natural to our islands. The .distribution and numerical 

 occurreTiee '-of -the, trees were not, quite the same as they 

 are'ndw^ i'n Britain, the 'Oak, for instance, was formerly 

 much more common, and remains of it are found in nearly 

 all parts of Scotland, even in the north of the country, and 

 at considerable altitudes. Any alteration that has taken place 

 in regard to the species grown, has been brought about 

 principally during the last two or three hundred years. 



As is well known, the forests, both in this country and 

 abroad, originally occupied a very much greater area than 

 they do at the present day. It would be wrong, however, 

 to imagine that in the earliest times with which history deals 

 Western Europe was entirely covered with uninterrupted 

 forest. 



In order to understand the history or development of 



forestry in a country, it is necessary to study to a certain 



extent the social and political changes that have been 



. active. Some account of these, referring more particularly 



to Germany, will therefore be given in the following pages. 



In very early times the forests of Germany belonged 

 either to the king, or, communally, to all the inhabitants of 

 a district or settlement. For long there lay between these 

 claimed areas themselves but insecurely held wide stretches 

 of absolutely unowned land. 



With the growth of a strong sovereignty, and with the 

 introduction of Christianity, the country's conditions altered 

 very considerably. 



From the seventh century onward the great ecclesiastic 

 and civil magnates gradually asserted their power, and during 

 the course of the next few hundred years they possessed 

 themselves not only of the previously unclaimed land, but 

 also of the larger part of the national forests. Similarly they 

 appropriated, almost everywhere, the forests belonging to the 

 original free settlements, but this they did without restricting 



