201] Government Forestry Abroad. 37 



referendar is personally responsible for all that goes 

 on in his beat, which must be the same for the whole 

 period. At the end of this rather lengthy preparation 

 comes the much-dreaded final examination, which, 

 like the first, is held partly in doors and partly in the 

 forest. This second test dwells more especiall}', apart 

 from forestry proper, on law. political economy, 

 finance, forest policy, and the organization of the 

 forest service, but without slighting the laws and 

 lore of hunting. 



The referendar now becomes forest assessor, and 

 is at length eligible for serious paid employment. 

 The actual career of the forester can hardly be said 

 to begin, however, until the appointment as Ober- 

 forster, for which the assessor has no sort of guar- 

 antee, and which may delay its coming for from six 

 to twelve years. That once obtained, the list of 

 promotion lies open, and includes every grade up to 

 the highest. Still, it must be said that, as a rule, the 

 Prussian Oberforster is wholly satisfied with his 

 position, and very often unwilling to exchange it for 

 one of greater honor and profit. 



That it should be so is scarcely to be wondered at. 

 The Oberforster. with almost independent control of 

 a range of some 10,000 acres, and, what is of first 

 importance to him, with an exclusive right to the 

 excellent shooting which it usually offers, lives a 

 healthy, active life, about equally divided between the 

 woods, his office and his friends. His pay, which may 

 reach 6,400 marks, including a consolidated allow- 

 ance for horses and the incidentals of his office work, 

 is ridiculously low from our standpoint, but entirely 

 sufficient from his. Promotion means a change from 

 the moderate activity of overseeing the planting and 

 2 



