3o6 ECONOMICS OF FORESTRY. 



ship of woodlands. With the growing instability 

 of communal organization of the " mark," division 

 of the common property took place, and thus 

 private ownership by small farmers came about, 

 reducing the communal holdings. Colonization 

 schemes by holders of large estates also led to 

 dismemberment. 



A very large amount of the mark forest came 

 into possession of the princes and noblemen by 

 force, and later the possessions of the princes were 

 increased by the secularization of the property of 

 monasteries and churches. Until the end of the 

 last century these domains belonged to the family 

 of the prince, just as the right to the throne or the 

 governing of the little dukedom, thus contributing 

 toward the expenses of government. 



But when, as a consequence of the French 

 Revolution and the Napoleonic wars and subse- 

 quent changes, the conception of the rights of the 

 governing classes changed, and in some states, 

 like Prussia, much earlier, a division of domains 

 into those which belonged to the prince's family 

 as private property and those which were state 

 forests was effected, so that now the following 

 classes of forest property may be distinguished : — 



(i) State forests, which are administered by the 

 government- for the benefit of the commonwealth, 

 each state of the confederation owning and ad- 

 ministering its own. 



(2) Imperial forests, belonging to the empire 



