CHIEF FIRE WARDEN. 83 



PRIVATE FORESTS. 



The extent of private forests is as follows: Communal 

 forests, administered by state foresters, 2 3 5,000 acres; en- 

 tailed forests, owned by families, 132,000 acres; ordinary 

 private forests, owned by individuals, 70,000 acres; total, 

 437,000. All communal forests and all entailed forests 

 are managed on forestry principles, furnishing a sustained 

 yield. The condition of the ordinary private forests is 

 deteriorating, as the productiveness of the soil is abused 

 by pasture, removal of litter and incomplete density of 

 leaf canopy. Communal and entailed forests are worth 

 as much as state forests, namely, about $100 per acre. 

 The value of private forests owned by individuals is con- 

 siderably less. The average rate of net income is about 

 2 y 2 per cent. The total product of the country is well 

 sustained. 



Considerable sums are derived in state and communal 

 forests from hunting and fishing leases. The foresters of 

 all grades enforce, ex-officio, all fish and game laws. The 

 subaltern foresters, as a general rule, are taken from the 

 army. 



The wages of the common laborer average about 50 

 cents per day. In the mountainous sections wood fuel is 

 cheaper than coal. In the state forests 124,700 are an- 

 nually spent for new roads, or for macadamizing old roads. 

 The state oberforster is at the same time the manager of 

 all municipal or village forests lying within his district. 

 The sale of forest produce, however, is done by the may- 

 ors of towns and villages. A splendid system of well 

 graded public roads, covered with stone in the Tellford 

 system and maintained at an annual expense of $270 per 

 mile, facilitates economic forestry to a very high degree. 



