150 FORESTRY IN GERMANY. 



STETTIN. 



REPORT OF CONSUL FAY. 



In the Kingdom of Prussia the following areas are under forests : 



Hectares. 



Government forests 2,469,187 



Common forests 977>°S^ 



Forests donated to benevolent institutions 88,445 



Corporation forests 237,005 



Private forests 4,382,251 



Total 8,153,946 



Classed as follows: 



Hectares. 



Coniferous trees 5,406,446 



Foliaceous trees 2,747,500 



To the foregoing number of hectares the provinces of my district con- 

 tribute as follows : 



Hectares. 



Pomerania /Foliaceous trees 165,528 



(Coniferous trees 429,305 



Total 594,833 



East Prussia...] ^°1'^<^^°"= ''^^= '35.332 



(Coniferous trees 526,734 



Total 662,060 



West Prussia..P°"^'=^°"= "^^^^ 73,022 



(Coniferous trees ; 461,826 



Total , 534,848 



Grand total for the three provinces 1,771,747 hectares. 



In conformity with the general formation of the land in the before-men- 

 tioned provinces the forests in them are situated either on level or on hilly 

 ground, and consequently the cultivation of the forests in regard to the fell- 

 ing and planting of trees is constant and uniform. 



Because of the principally sandy condition of the soil, as proven by the 

 above figures, the cultivation of coniferous trees is predominant, the forests 

 of which, of considerable breadth, extend along the Baltic coasts and protect 

 the inland country from the sea storms and the invasions of the sand. There- 

 fore great care is taken to keep up the stock of trees along the coast in a 

 dense and compact connection, and to make sure of a sufficient number of 

 young trees before the matured trees are felled. 



The privileges formerly allowed to the inhabitants of the villages and 

 towns in the neighborhood of the forests of gathering dry wood and litter 

 and of pasturing their stock in them, as likewise the rights of some churches 

 and schools of receiving annually certain quantities of timber or wood free 

 of all charges, have now everywhere been either purchased by or donated to 

 the parties or institutions entitled to such privileges, because so long as these 

 rights were allowed a sufficient protection of the forests and trees, as well as 

 a rational forest cultivation, was a thing of impossibility. 



