igS SCIENCE IN AFRICA 



(1935) is for Uganda, and the authors, in collaboration with 

 members of the forestry department, show that 1,146 indigenous 

 species are represented in that country. The second list (1936) 

 includes all recorded trees from Nyasaland, a third (1937) includes 

 the trees and shrubs recorded as recurring in the Gold Coast. 

 They are engaged in compiling a list for Tanganyika with the 

 collaboration of Mr. Green way, botanist to the Agricultural Re- 

 search Station, Amani, and the late Mr. B. D. Burtt of the tsetse 

 investigation department. Another for Nigeria, as yet unpub- 

 lished, contains 1,240 species and varieties, representing a 50 per 

 cent increase over the first list published in 191 4. For Nigeria also, 

 Mr. J. D. Kennedy, silviculturist in the forestry department, 

 has collected a very large number of species, and has published 



(1936) a useful book on the forest flora of Southern Nigeria, deal- 

 ing with over 1,000 species, including seventeen new species and 

 one new genus. There is also an older work on the useful trees of 

 Northern Nigeria by Lely (1925). The Uganda forest department 

 has recently (1934) issued a list of the native names of trees and 

 shrubs in Uganda. Publications dealing specifically with timber 

 are described below. 



The enormous variety of forest trees is responsible to some extent 

 for the backward state of African forestry. In practice the African 

 forester distinguishes about a hundred first-class trees, while the 

 rest are grouped together as second class, of little economic impor- 

 tance. The check-lists mentioned, which are edited by Dr. Burtt 

 Davy, are planned to contain keys for the easy determination of 

 species in the field and will provide a valuable guide in the making 

 of forest censuses. 



In addition to technical treatises, smaller and more popular 

 books are urgently required to dispel misconceptions with regard to 

 forest trees. There is a prevalent idea that only some half-dozen 

 kinds, representing perhaps one in ten thousand of the actual 

 growing trees, are of any use for timber^ and that the rest are of 

 no value except for firewood. It is true that some African timbers 

 compare unfavourably with those from northern countries, being 

 either so hard that they are difficult to work, or so soft that they 

 have little strength and durability, but many of the less-favoured 

 kinds have economic uses. The initiative in preparing such hand- 



