with the purpose of breaking up the old es- 
tates, but some at least of the old families are 
organizing themselves into stock companies, 
so that their forest properties may still be 
held together as of old. 
Dr. Schenck says that ‘‘the four hinges’ 
of forest management in the Odenwald, if not 
indeed in other German forests, are (1) the 
demand for fuel wood, (2) the permanent 
road system, (3) the legal requirement that 
held intact the considerable areas of private 
estate forests, and (4) certain restrictions on 
exploitation (for which combinations of own- 
ers in the restraint of production are essen- 
tial), made necessary by the fact that the for- 
est itself is a limited resource. 
For the reason that stability in ownership 
and continuity of management are essentiais 
in good forestry over a long period, there is a 
zgieat deal, from the forester’s standpoint, to 
be said in favor of the present move toward 
placing these estate forests under stock com- 
panies. That program certainly works for 
well. It is the custom in all German forests 
to erect towers on the higher places. These 
are not fire lookouts, for the forest fire prob- 
lem no longer troubles the German forester, 
but rather attractions for the local people and 
the tourist. Excellent walks with benches at 
frequent intervals are maintained throughout 
the forest, and at more frequented places rest 
houses, where may be obtained liquid and 
other refreshment. This in no way interferes 
with the management of the forest, and it is 
a good illustration that intensive commercial 
use of a forest can be combined with its use 
for recreational purposes. This is a lesson 
the American public still has to learn. 
THE BEAUTIFUL 
SPESSART 
The Spessart is a forest situated on sand- 
stone hills in the extreme northwestern part 
of the state of Bavaria. The nearest import- 
ant town is Aschaffenburg, which makes a 
good gateway of approach. This forest was 
for centuries the property of the archbishops 
A STAND 
QF SILVER FIR 
IN THE 
SCHIFFER- 
SCHAFTWALD 
—DR. C. A. 
SCHENCK IN 
THE 
CENTER 
conserving the supply of forest products in a 
given community, with the benefits which flow 
from the sustained upkeep of the existing 
wood ustng industries. And one of the strik- 
ing things about all these German forests is 
the relatively large number of persons who 
find permanent local employment either in the 
forest or in working up its products. Presi- 
dent Roosevelt once said that the ultimate 
purpose of forestry was the making of happy 
homes. Certainly when the forest gives work 
and livelihood to a stable resident population, 
this ideal comes near to being realized. It 
does not make for large mills and big indus- 
try, but it does result in stability and local 
prosperity in the community. 
The city of Darmstadt has an interesting 
forest on the hills back of the town. Beech 
is the predominant species, but there are also 
plantations of conifers that are developing 
of Mainz, who maintained a hunting castle at 
Aschaffenburg. After the dispossession by 
Napoleon of the archbishop, the Spessart 
came after a time into the possession of the 
Bavarian crown. It now belongs to the state 
of Bavaria. 
The Spessart has supplied fuel wood from 
time immemorial—the wood was floated down 
the Main to Mainz—but its real importance 
rests in its oak, which is the finest anywhere 
in Germany, if not in Europe. In the eigh- 
teenth century a considerable industry grew 
up through the export of Spessart oak, down 
the Rhine to Holland. The forest has been 
under a definite working plan since 1760, 
which has of course been many times revised, 
but in general the program laid down in 1790 
by a notable forester, Baron Tetteborn, has 
been adhered to. There are no community 
forests in the Spessart, this being one of the 
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