FORESTRY IN GERMANY. 



67 



Under the same heads the Rhenish province and the district of Cologne 

 have the following area, respectively : 



RHENISH- PROVINCE. 



Hectares. 



a 143,284 



b 321,019 



' 7,149 



d- 15,303 



•^ 342,687 



Hectares. 

 .. 11,766 

 •• 7,358 



•• 1,773 

 .. 1,201 

 .. 98,284 



The forests of Prussia stretch from the Baltic coast over the mountains of 

 the Sudeten, Hartz, Thuringia, Teutoburg, Meissner, Taunus, Rhon, and the 

 slate mountains of the Lower Rhine. 



According to a rough estimate 4,043,800 hectares of forest area are level, 

 2,089,500 hectares are hilly, and 1,991,200 hectares are mountainous. 



GOVERNMENT SUPERVISION OVER COMMUNAL FORESTS. 



Although the communes are left free to manage the communal forests, 

 the state government reserves for itself certain rights over the general ad- 

 ministration in order to prevent any mismanagement or abuses. For instance, 

 in Westphalia and the Rhineland, which embrace this consular district, the 

 communities and public institutions are left free to administer their own 

 forests; but at the same time the government gives certain instructions re- 

 garding the culture and utilization of the forests which the local authorities 

 are bound to carry out without any alteration on their part not first con- 

 sented to by the government. Whether it is considered best that the com- 

 mune should appoint the officials entrusted with the supervision of the forest 

 is left to the discretion of the government. In leaving the election of the 

 forest officials to the communes they are to elect such persons whose qualifi- 

 cations are approved by the government, to whom the election is submitted 

 for consideration and confirmation. It is the duty of the government, 

 either by virtue of its office or for some special reason, to examine into any 

 changes made in the management of the communal forests, and to proceed 

 against all adverse administration by assuming special supervision or by in- 

 stituting any other judicious precaution. 



As technical organs for the- supervision of the communal forests the gov- 

 ernment can make use of its foresters, who are generally bound to report to 

 the government any wrong done to the communal forests that may come to 

 their knowledge. The technical supervision is conducted by its technical 

 foresters, namely, by the oberforstbeamte (head forest officers), and forst- 

 uieistcr (forest master). Each forstmeister has a special geographical district 

 allotted to him, who has not only to superintend the state forests but also, at 

 the request of the government Department of the Interior, of which he is a 

 technical member, to examine the management of all the communal forests 

 situated within his particular district. The oberforstbeamte (head forest 

 officer), has general supervision over the administration of all the communal 



