76 A PRIMER OF FORESTRY. 



united these points of view, and their writings are at 

 the base of the whole modern growth of the subject. 

 Both were German. Each covered the whole field as 

 it was then understood, and together they exerted an 

 influence which has not been approached by any other 

 authors since. From Germany their teaching spread 

 to France, and early in the nineteenth century their 

 doctrines were introduced into the French Forest 

 School at Nancy by Lorentz, who, with his successor, 

 Parade, was the founder of modern forestry in France. 

 Under the feudal system, which was finally destined 

 in France by the revolution of 1789, the forest was 

 the property of the feudal lord. In order to make the 

 life of their serfs, who were useful both as taxpayers 

 and as fighting men, easier, and so increase their num- 

 ber, he gave them the privilege of taking from his 

 forest the wood which they required. For similar 

 reasons the wealthy religious houses, like that of the 

 Grande Chartreuse, made grants of land and of 

 rights in the forest. But after a time the number of 

 peasants increased so much that their wants absorbed 

 nearly the whole produce of the woodlands. Then it 

 was found necessary to limit the prescriptive rights to 

 forest products by restricting them to certain parts 

 of the forest, or to make an end of them by exchang- 

 ing them for the absolute ownership of smaller areas. 

 Thus many of the communities, to which, and not to 

 individual peasants, these rights belonged, came to 

 possess forests of their own. But the communes, as 

 they were called, managed their forests badly, and 

 about three hundred years ago the Government was 

 forced to intervene. Under the management of offi- 



