FOREST POLICIES OF FOREIGN NATIONS. 301 



To understand the development of the present 

 forest policy in Germany, one must study the 

 peculiar conditions and development of property 

 rights that led to it. Germany was originally set- 

 tled by warriors, who had to keep together in order 

 to resist enemies and conquerors on every side, 

 and to be ready to move and change domicile at 

 any moment. The soil which was conquered was, 

 consequently, not divided, but, owned as a whole, 

 was managed by and for the whole tribe. It is only 

 in the sixth century that signs of private property 

 in woodlands are discernible. Before that time 

 it was res nullius, or, as it is expressed in legal 

 manuscripts, " quia non res possessa sed de ligno 

 agitur." 



Wood being plentiful and yet needed by every- 

 body, it appeared not a crime to take it unless it 

 had been already appropriated or bore unmistak- 

 able signs of ownership, such as being cut or 

 shaped. But severe punishments were in earliest 

 times inflicted for incendiarism and for damage to 

 mast trees, since the seed mast for the fattening of 

 swine was one of the most important uses of the 

 forest. 



There was not much need of partition, especially 

 of the forests. The community, to which all the 

 land of a district belonged, and which was man- 

 aged by and for the aggregate of society, was 

 called the " mark," a communistic institution of 

 most express character, and every " marker " or 



