Early Legislation. 355 



sources and need of economy in their use was, indeed, 

 recognized early. Recommendations for their con- 

 servative use are recorded from the 13th century on. 

 An ordinance of Pedro I, in 1351, imposed heavy fines 

 upon forest destroyers. Ferdinand V, in 1496, ex- 

 pressed alarm at the progressing devastation, and, 

 in 1518, we find a system of forest guards established, 

 and even ordinances ordering reforestation of waste 

 lands, which were again and again repeated during 

 the century. In 1567 and 1582, notes of alarm at the 

 continuing destruction prove that these ordinances 

 had no effect. The same complaints and fears are 

 expressed by the rulers during the 17th and 18th 

 centuries, without any effective action. In 1748, 

 Ferdinand VI placed all forests under government 

 supervision, but in 1812, the Cortes of Cadiz, under 

 the influence of the spirit of the French Revolution, 

 rescinded these orders and abolished all restrictions. 



An awakening to the absolute necessity of action 

 seems not to have arrived until about 1833, when a 

 law was enacted and an ordinance issued, at great 

 length defining the meaning of "montes," and in- 

 stituting in the Corps of Civil Engineers a forest 

 inspection. At the same time, a special school was 

 to be established in Madrid. This last proposition 

 does not seem to have materialized, for, in 1840, we 

 find that several young men were sent to the forest 

 school at Tharandt (Germany). 



No doubt, under the influence of these men on their 

 return, backed by La Sociedad Economica of Madrid, 

 a commission to formulate a forest law was instituted 

 in 1846, and in the same year, carrying out ordinances 



12a 



