CHIEF FIRE WARDEN, 63 



ings, paying a rent equal to one-half of the additional pay- 

 above mentioned. 



PRIVATE FORESTS. 



At the close of 1895 the entire forest area of Austria 

 was 23,993,442 acres. Deducting from this figure the 

 area of the state and fund forests, aggregating 3,782,369 

 acres (out of which 862,236 were unproductive area), 

 there remain 20,211,072 acres, which are composed of 

 communal forests to the extent of 3,456,782 acres, and 

 private forests to the extent of 16,754,290 acres. 



There are treated according to forestry principles proper: 

 In the case of communal forests, 14.5 per cent, equal to 

 500,818 acres; in the case of private forests, 38.4 per 

 cent, equal to 6,434,070 acres. In these forests all work 

 is done according to working plans, periodically made by 

 officers of a training equal to that of the government for- 

 estry officers. In 85.6 per cent of the communal forests 

 (2,955,964 acres) and in 61.6 per cent of the private for- 

 ests (10, 320, 220 acres) no working plans exist. The work 

 is done without reference to scientific forestry, more or 

 less at haphazard after empirical rules. 



The price of private forests depends on the quality of 

 the soil, the age of the forest, and on the locality, viz., 

 on the market conditions and on the industrial develop- 

 ment of the section in which the forest is situated. Thus 

 it is impossible to give even an approximately correct fig- 

 ure representing the value of private forests. Forest land 

 has been sold actually at prices ranging between 15 and 

 #340. 



The annual net revenue drawn from forestry varies just 

 as much as the value of the forest itself. It is impossible 

 to give any exact figure showing the annual net revenue 

 from private or communal forests. A net revenue of equal 

 to two or three per cent of the capital invested in forestry 

 may represent a fair average. 



