Development of Property. 157 



takes of the characteristics of a continental plains 

 climate with low rainfall and extreme temperature 

 ranges. 



In addition to the tree species found in Germany 

 there are of economic value four species of pine (Pinus 

 austriaca, cembra, pinea, halepensis), two oaks (Quercus 

 ilex and suber), and the chestnut (Castanea vesca). 

 Conifer_ fores t is prevailing in jjuslrja (with 82%), 

 d eciduous for est jn Hungary , mostly beech and - oak 

 (with 75%) ; 27% being oak in pure stands. 



The following pages refer to Austria proper, Hun- 

 garian conditions being treated separately further on. 



The value of the total raw product exported from 

 the Austrian forests (some 180 million cubic feet) 

 may be estimated at over 50 million dollars annually. 



1. Property Conditions. 



On the whole, property conditions developed not 

 unsimilarly to those of Germany. There were free- 

 men and serfs to start with, developing into barons, 

 peasants, burghers; there were ban forests, royal 

 domain, forests of the mark, and private properties; 

 rights of user or servitudes and all the methods 

 and conditions that were developed in other parts 

 of Europe are also found here, only perhaps differ- 

 ing in time and rate of progress in their develop- 

 ment. 



As a result of gradual changes, the present distri- 

 bution of property resulted, in which the State owner- 

 ship is comparatively small, namely, in Austria proper 

 not more than 7.3% (with 2.8 million acres of which 

 nearly one-third is unproductive land), while private 



