Tree Planting and South African Forests. 



The subject of tree planting is one that is at present attracting consider- 

 able attention in the Cape Colony. Every country that is subject to 

 periodical droughts is too poor to neglect planting; in this point of view 

 it is absolutely necessary to utilize every possible means of increasing 

 rainfall and retaining moisture. In old Dutch times at the Cape a law- 

 required every landed proprietor to plant a certain number of trees per 

 morgen, and as a consequence Capetown and Stellenbosch are now supplied 

 with noble oaks, stately avenues, and shady Avalks. It must be admitted, 

 on the other hand, that in the eastern districts of the Cape Colony tree 

 planting has been shamefully neglected. We are glad, however, to be able 

 to report that in this respect a change is taking place. The Divisional 

 Council of Albany has resolved to plant the sides of all their public roads 

 with trees. The city of Grahamstown has been immensely improved by 

 judicious planting, and everywhere— in villages and at farms— tree planting 

 is in course of being carried out successfully. 



While writing upon this subject it may not be amiss to give our readers 

 some information about South African natural forests. These are far more 

 extensive and far more valuable than is generally supposed. In the 

 George, Knysna, and Humansdorp districts there is a great forest of mag- 

 nificent trees, in which in very many places the foot of man has never trod. 

 Elephants still live there in a wild, untamed condition, and it was near 

 the Knysna that Prince Alfred was successful with his rifle against these 

 giant animals. Good timber is exported both from Plethenburg Bay and 

 Knysna. Then there is the fine forest at Alexandria (Oliphant's Hoek), 

 distant only thirty miles from Grahamstown. A belt of jungle and 

 forest extends fi"om Port Elizabeth inland to a distance of about sixty miles, 

 with an average breadth of twelve miles. The Zumberg is in the centre of 

 it, and elephants are frequently seen from the road .to Somerset East, 

 which crosses these mountains. In the kloofs or deep ravines of the 

 Amatolas, and generally throughout Kaffraria, there is large timber. The 

 most common tree is the " yellowwood," of which there are several 

 qualities. Inferior yellowwood warps very much. Strukwood makes 

 excellent fnrniture ; iron wood is used for axles, and is so heavy tliat it 

 will not float in water. There are fully a dozen varieties of really good 

 wood which can be utilized in different ways. Some of them are close- 

 grained, hard, and take a good polish. Among the resources of South 

 Africa which have yet to be properly utilized are her forests, and the laud in 

 and around them. 



In the neighbourhood of the Knysna, which is an excellent little seaport 

 nearly equidistant from Capetown and Port Elizabeth, a settlement of 



