158 Austria. 



ownership represents over 58.6%. Of this, 34% is 

 in large landed estates, among which those of the 

 princes of Liechtenstein and of Schwarzenberg with 

 round 350,000 acres and 290,000 acres respectively are 

 the largest; and 25 others with from 50,000 to 230,000 

 acres may be named. By the middle of the 19th 

 century, at least 75% of the forest area was in large 

 compact properties, a guarantee for the possibility 

 of forest management; the industrial development of 

 the last decade has, however, led to considerable ex- 

 ploitation. In upper and lower Austria and in the 

 Alpine regions small private ownership prevails. 

 The communal forest comprises 13%, entailed forest 

 8%, and the rest belongs to church and other institu- 

 tions. These so-called Fondsforste are in part under 

 government administration. 



2. First Attempts at Forest Control. 



The oldest record of attempts at an orderly manage- 

 ment in any part of the empire seems to date back to 

 the 12th century, when the city forest of Vienna had 

 been placed under management. During the 16th 

 and 17th century this property appears to have been 

 managed upon the basis of careful surveys and 

 estimates. We also find a definite forest organization 

 in the forests attached to the ducal salt mines in 

 Styria by 1524, and the dams, canals and water works 

 for floating timber developed by 1592 through Thomas 

 Seeauer were the wonder of the times. 



In 1524 also, Archbishop Mathceus Lang of Wellen- 

 burg issued a forest ordinance which was full of wise 

 prescriptions, probably little heeded. A forest ordi- 



