Methods of Forest Administration. 81 



officials under him, who were called together periodi- 

 cally for reports and discussions. 



Until the middle of the 18th century all those em- 

 ployed in the forest service, at least those in the 

 superior positions, had also duties in connection with 

 the chase, the head official of the hunt being also the 

 head of the forest service; and hunting had usually 

 superior claims to forestry. The men were supposed 

 to be masters of the two branches, i.e., to be familiar 

 with the technique of the hunt and of forestry (Hirsch- 

 gerecht and Holzgerecht) . The higher positions were 

 usually reserved to the nobility until (during the 18th 

 century) the Cameralists came into control of the 

 administration; and with them, under the mercanti- 

 listic teachings, the apparatus of officials also in- 

 creased. 



These men usually possessed wide, but not deep 

 knowledge of matters bearing upon their charges. In 

 Prussia, in 1740, the forest service was at least in part 

 combined with the military service, Frederick the 

 Great instituting the corps of riding couriers for the 

 carrying of dispatches who were selected from the 

 forest service, an institution which persists up to date 

 in the corps of Feldjaeger, while the sons of foresters 

 were enlisted in a troop known as Fussjaeger (chas- 

 seurs). A new era dates from the middle of the 18th 

 century when the connection with the hunt, the mili- 

 tary organization, and the preferred position of the 

 nobility, were at least in part abrogated, and a more 

 technical organization was attempted. The cause 

 for this change was the increase of wood prices, which 

 made a more technical management desirable, and 



