622 Forestry Quarterly 



chiefly -A. decurrens, var. mollis and A. decurrens, var. normalis, 

 the Black and Green wattles. The plantations are in Natal and 

 the Transvaal. Agricultural land is used. The plantations, 

 formed at a cost of $10 to $20 per acre, are left until about 7 years 

 old before cutting. At this age the trees are 6 to 8 inches diameter, 

 40 feet high, and produce one half ton of bark to the acre. The 

 wood also is sold in the frmt growing regions of Natal for $3 per 

 ton, chiefly for crate material and fuel. The market for the wood 

 is leading to an extension of the rotation to 10 years. The annual 

 wood production in a wattle plantation is about 90 cubic feet. 



The earliest wattle plantations were started solely for the pro- 

 duction of wood, but the bark production has become so important 

 that, in spite of a duty, African wattle bark is being exported to 

 Australia, the home of the species, in quantities exceeding the 

 annual Australian production. The exports of bark in 1914 

 reached 180,000,000 pounds, valued at $1,430,000. 



The management of the plantations is simple. The rubbish is 

 burned after the clear-cutting is complete, a dense crop of seed- 

 lings springs up, the land is cultivated to reduce the number of 

 seedlings and the plantation is then left alone for another rotation. 



Conclusion 



Forestry in South Africa is definitely recognized to be an invest- 

 ment for the future. Nevertheless, although the administra- 

 tion has only something less than half a million acres of heavily 

 culled indigenous forests to work on, and the plantations are only 

 recently formed, many of them being extended arboreta rather 

 than commercial plantations the balance of expenditure over rev- 

 enue and the stimipage value of free use permits issued is not great. 



The statement for the past three years runs : 



1912-13 1913-14 1914-15 



Revenue £72,718 £55,733 £47,192 



Value of free use £37,976 £26,371 £14,146 



Total £110,694 £82,104 £61,338 



Expenditure £157, 833 £149, 139 £119, 475 



Such a favorable financial statement diu-ing a period when the 

 Department is undertaking the improvement of indigenous forests 

 and the formation of plantations is possible only, by the working 



