14 Government Forestry Abroad. [198 



The third section. Determination of the Yield, 

 explains the various methods of calculating and 

 fixing the amount of timber which a given forest 

 may be safely called upon to yield. 



The next section treats of the construction of the 

 working plans proper; that is, "of that document 

 in which the essential results of the preliminary 

 work, the determination of the yield and the regu- 

 lation of the management are so put together that 

 they may serve as a guide .... to the execu- 

 tive officer of the range." 



The final section relates to the posting and con- 

 tinuation of the working plans, especially as regards 

 the periodic revisions, which take place in general at 

 intervals of five and ten years. 



Next in authority to the department just mentioned 

 is the Bezirksregierung, a council in charge of one 

 of the thirty-five minor divisions of the Prussian 

 State, which has full control over forest business 

 within its sphere of action. The members of the 

 controlling staff, the Oberforstmeister and Forst- 

 meister, are also members of this council. Their 

 duties lie in the inspection of the officers of the 

 executive staff, of whom there are 681 in Prussia. 

 These officers, styled Oberforster, are charged with 

 the actual management of the public forest lands, and 

 it is on them that the security of public interest in 

 the forests chiefly rests. Upon their selection and 

 education the utmost care and forethought are ex- 

 pended. 



Their course of training, one which has produced 

 perhaps the most efficient forest staff of the present 

 day. is briefly as follows: It begins, after graduation 

 from a gymnasium, with a year of practical work 



