PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS SECTION C. 9^ 



and Heywood — who, in spite of lack of funds, of adverse criti- 

 cism, failures and want of encouragement, quietly and unobtru- 

 sively added an acre here and an acre there, and paved the way 

 for forest extension on a large scale. The Stone and Cluster 

 Pines had been naturalised in the Western I-'rovince before the 

 Government plantations were started, but those valuable species 

 the Canary Island and Ingisnis Pines were practically tmknown. 

 Many different kinds of Eucalypts were experimented with, and 

 as experience was gained it became possible to discard some and 

 fit others into the zones best suited to their requirements. 

 Eucalyptus corynocalyx, the Sugar Gum. R. diver skolor, the 

 Karri, and E. rostrata, the Red Gum. were useful introductions 

 of that period. E. marginata, the Jarrah, was also tested, but the 

 results have no't proved sufficiently satisfactory to warrant ex- 

 tended cultivation. Prior to the Forest Department taking up 

 the trial of the then unfamiliar species the Blue Gum was prac- 

 tically the only Eucalypt cultivated in the Union, and many fine 

 specimens can be seen at homesteads all through the country, 

 its popularity being greatly enhanced by its rapid growth and 

 general hardiness. 



The work of the past 40 years has made it possible to 

 decide at least for the winter and all-the-year-round rainfall 

 areas of the Cape Province, which species of trees, particularly 

 conifers, are mo.st suitable to grow, and to allocate to such 

 species within certain limits the conditions needed for their best 

 development. A great deal has still to be learned about these 

 exotics, but enough is kno\\'n about their requirements to justify 

 them being planted on a large scale in the areas referred to. In 

 the summer rainfall areas of the Eastern Province and the 

 Transkei the situation is not so clearly defined, and there is some 

 element of risk in extension which is absent in the west. Greater 

 care is called for in choice of species and of sites for planting, 

 and until some of the plantations reach maturity this will remain 

 the position. On the other hand, planting is mainly confined 

 to the natural forest zone, where conditions can be expected to 

 to be favourable, and results so far attained indicate that certain 

 species can be counted on to reach a commercial size, if not large 

 dimensions. 



The Cluster Pine and Insignis Pine, which are so at home 

 in the winter and all-the-year-round rainfall zones, though they 

 do well in favoured spots, are prone to disease, and their place 

 in the Eastern Province mountains would seem to be taken by 

 the Chir Pine {Piniis longifolia) from India, and perhaps by the 

 Canary Island Pine. 



Some Mexican species are now under trial, but are too young 

 to give any reliable indication of their possible future value. 

 The Portuguese Cypress and, in parts, the Deodar, flourish on 

 the mountains, and in the kloofs the common Oalc and the White 

 Poplar grow remarkably. Certain Eucalypts appear much at 

 home, and magnificent groves of Blue Gum of 120 feet in height 

 serve to show what may be expected of younger plantations. 



