PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS SFATION C. 87 



forests are far removed from road and rail or carry but a few- 

 trees to the acre, or for social reasons it is inexpedient to accelerate 

 their exploitation. As the country opens up, more forests will 

 be tapped, but at present many are of purely local value. To 

 meet the existing shortage of wood the Department has placed 

 more than the normal supply of Yellowwood on the market, and, 

 should circumstances warrant, still more will be done in that 

 direction. The stock of timber referred to is the accumulation 

 of centuries, and if it could be removed it would take genera- 

 tions to replace. In considering how far the indigenous forests 

 can go towards meeting our timber requirements when once 

 they are in a normal condition, it is important to arrive at ?;ome 

 idea of the rate at which the forests produce Yellowwood timber. 

 I regret to have to admit our information on this point is scanty, 

 for investigations on this and kindred matters have received very 

 little attention. 



However, McNaughton. who for many years was Conser- 

 vator at Knysna, made some careful computations during the 

 course of preparing a working plan for the Sourflats forests. He 

 arrived at the conclusion that on an acre of forest of first-class 

 quality the annual increment of all s]>ecies amounted to approxi- 

 mately 31 cubic feet. Of this 31 cubic feet 21 cubic feet were made 

 up of valuable species, mainly the two Yellowwoods, Stinkwood, 

 Assegai, White Pear, Iron wood, Kamassi, and a few others of 

 less importance, and the balance of 10 cubic feet, of inferior 

 species, unsaleable for industrial purposes, and useful only for 

 fuel. The two Yellowwoods contributed .3 of the increment 

 of the valuable species, or 6.3 cubic feet per acre per annum. 

 These figures are probably not very wide of the mark. 



Now. adopting that figure it will be seen that, if all the 

 forests of the Union were of equally good quality as the Sour- 

 flats forest, and every year only the amount of timber were 

 felled that was produced, the annual out-turn of Yellowwood 

 would reach 6.3 X 400.000=2,520,000 per annum. It must, 

 however, be remembered that a certain projxvrtion of the dense 

 forests of the Union are devoid of Yellowwood, are inaccessible, 

 and that much Yellowwood forest is inferior to Sourflats. Under 

 those circumstances it is probably not safe to assume that a 

 greater output than one and a quarter of a million cubic feet 

 of Yellowwood per annum could be looked for, when once the 

 forests have been brought into a normal condition, a process 

 which will take a very long time. No doubt as further experience 

 is gained of the native forests and more intensive management 

 becomes feasible, the total annual increment might be consider- 

 ably enhanced ; so that a somewhat greater supply of Yellowwood 

 would be forthcoming, especially if steps were taken to foster 

 the better species. But even under the most favourable circum- 

 stances, it is quite clear that the outptit of the indigenous forests 

 of the Union are entirely inadequate to provide much more than 

 5 per cent, of the probable future requirements of the 

 country for- softwood timber, and softwood timber, as I pointed 

 out before, comprises 90 per cent, of the timber consumption 



