194 TIMBERS AND THEIE USES 



schools of forestry and agriculture, and an 

 excellent high, school is situated at Vienna. 

 The courses of study are closely modelled on 

 those of Germany. The forest officers direct 

 the manner and rotation in which timber is 

 to be cut, the prevention of waste, the carrying 

 out of replanting work, the preservation of 

 timber as a safeguard from floods and landslips, 

 and the taking of protective measures against 

 destructive forest insects. " This system of 

 paternal control has, it is said, as a rule, achieved 

 excellent results, although there is the draw- 

 back that, in some instances, the law is adminis- 

 tered with laxity and in others with great strict- 

 ness." 



" A striking instance of the effect of forest 

 denudation is seen in the Karst, an extensive 

 region of mountain slope and tableland stretch- 

 ing along the Northern Adriatic, and consisting 

 chiefly of grey limestone interspersed in parts 

 with oxide of iron, which gives it the appearance 

 of red volcanic soil. This tract of country, whose 

 natural wooded area is now confined to a few 

 deep valleys, still a picture of richness and 

 fertility, was originally covered with immense 

 forests of the finest Oak, and even before the 

 Christian era was resorted to by the Romans 

 for timber for their ships and houses. Through 

 subsequent centuries it continued to be one of 



