180 Hungary. 



property of the kings of the Arpad dynasty, had by 

 them been turned over from time to time in dona- 

 tions to the churches, cloisters and to colonists, so 

 that when the Hapsburgs succeeded on the throne, 

 in 1526, only a small portion remained undisposed, 

 and this became State property. 



In the forests which were necessary for the working 

 of the royal mines and furnaces, an attempt was early 

 made to secure systematic treatment under an ordin- 

 ance (1565) which gave instructions as to the order 

 of fellings, the reservation of seed trees, etc. But, 

 otherwise, the government did not make much effort 

 at regulating forest use until the middle of the 18th 

 century, and then, largely owing to military consider- 

 ations, urged by General von Engelshoffen com- 

 manding on the frontier against the Turks. The 

 planting of forests for defense was ordered (1743) 

 by Maria Theresa, but this order was probably never 

 executed. 



About this time, however, movements of reform in 

 various directions are noticeable. Complete working 

 plans were made for the Kremnitz forest in 1750, and 

 for the Schemnitz forest in 1763. The forest ordin- 

 ances of 1770 and 1781 and the law of 1791 attempted 

 to regulate the use of communal forests, and ordered 

 the reservation of devastated forest areas. Other 

 legislation followed in 1807, designed to arrest the 

 further extension of shifting sands. 



Although, since 1809, forest inspectors had been 

 employed to look after the execution of the forest 

 laws, mismanagement and forest destruction by pro- 

 miscuous cutting, pasture and fire remained the rule, 



