Forest Administration. 113 
ests, and it became the practice to place the direction 
of the latter in the hands of some more or less competent 
man—a state forester—usually under the fiscal branch 
or treasury department of the general administration. 
A fully organized forest administration, in the modern 
sense, however, could hardly be said to exist until after 
the wars of liberation (1815) which had undoubtedly 
retarded the peaceful development of this as well as of 
other reforms. 
In organizing the large Prussian forest department, 
for instance, a division into provincial administrations 
was first established, and these were differentiated into 
directive, inspection and executive services. The exe- 
cution of working plans was conducted by managers of 
districts (100,000 to 125,000 acres) in charge of Ober- 
forster or Revierférster, who with the assistance of 
several underforesters (Férster) were in charge of the 
practical work. At first only indifferently educated, 
they were allowed little latitude, but with improvement 
in their education they became by degrees more and more 
independent agents. The direction of this district man- 
agement, several districts in combination, was in the 
hands of an Oberforstmeister, with the assistance of a 
number of Forstmeister, who acted mainly as inspectors. 
This tri-partite system of directing, inspecting and 
executive officers, after various changes in titles and 
functions finally became practically established in all the 
larger German states; in some rather lately, as for in- 
stance, in Bavaria, not until 1885, and in Wurtemberg 
in 1887. j 
With this more stable organization, the character and 
the status of the personnel changed greatly: the prior 
