94 



The instructions to forest inspectors contain sufficient points, elaborately 

 presented, to fill a moderate-sized pamphlet, and the gist of the whole matter is 

 that the forest inspector acts as a paternal adviser, and if need be as an imperative 

 commander to all owners of forests in the empire, as well as a superintendent of 

 imperial forests. 



He controls and commands private owners as to the manner and order in 

 which they should cut their timber, as to the necessity of replanting, the preventing 

 of waste, the preservation of timber against floods, and as to the danger and injury 

 threatening from insects, as to the fitness and capacity of the subordinate forest 

 inspectors and hunters and forest wards to be employed by these owners ; in 

 short, there is not a single act of ownership which the holder of the titled deeds 

 of woodland could possibly exercise over his own domain which is not directly 

 under the control, and which does not require the approval of the forest 

 inspector. 



In the light of these instructions it is not at all paradoxical to say that the 

 owner of forest land in Austria must exercise extraordinary care not to be guilty 

 of trespass upon his own lands. There can be no question, however, that this 

 paternal control has achieved most excellent practical results, though ic is said 

 that the discipline of forest officials has been lax, and that the laws and instruc- 

 tions have not been enforced with uniform strictness. The forest technicists and 

 forest wards are the subordinate officers of the forest, instruments by which the 

 duties above enumerated and imposed upon the forest inspectors are practically 

 performed. 



FOREST REGISTER (WALDKATASTER). 



In pursuance of a decree of the Ministry of Agriculture, under date of 

 July 3, 1873, the respective forest officers are required to keep a forest register of 

 each district, which specifies the number of acres covered by forest, its condition, 

 state of growth, etc. 



In connection with this register maps are prepared and kept open for 

 inspection at the offices of the district captains upon which the condition and 

 extent of the several forests in the districts are shown. 



At the close of each year a report about the progress of forest culture, etc., 

 is to be made to the Ministry of Agriculture, which report is to be published in 

 the Landes Zeitung. 



The total number of forest officers of all grades, public and private, employed 

 in Austria, reaches the respectable figure of 31,826. 



REVENUES FROM GOVERNMENT FORESTS COST OF MAINTAINING OR MANAGING 

 FORESTS PROFITS OF FOREST CULTIVATION. 



On the point of the profits of Government forests there are absolutely no 

 statistics published in the Empire, so far as I have been able to ascertain, except 

 those given in the budget under the head of forest revenues and expenditures. 

 The last budget published places : 



The forest revenues, p. a. florins . 3,951,050 



The forest expenditures, p. a. florins 3,546,240 



Profit of State forests, 405,410 



These net proceeds of an area of government forest land, containing 

 952,689.96 hectares, certainly seem very inconsiderable, but in order to estimate 



