INDIGENOUS TIMBERS OF THE CAPE. 



By D. E. HUTCHINS, Conservator of Forests, Western Conservancy. 



CALLITRIS ARBOBEA CAPE CEDAR. 



This is a true Cedar and the moat valuable of the indigenous 

 timbers. It is sweetly scented. The timber is very durable, easily 

 worked, and is used for almost every purpose both indoors and out- 

 of-doors. The English Church at Clanwilliam is fitted with it. In 

 the Cedarberg farms it is used both for housebuilding and furniture, 

 and in these houses its aroma is certainly noticeable. It is the sole 

 indigenous Cape timber that is not liable to crack and warp on dry- 

 ing. Unfortunately it is only found in one locality, the Cedarberg 

 Mountains, about one hundred miles north of Cape Town : and here 

 all the large trees have been long ago cut out. In size and 

 appearance the Cape Cedar much resembles the Cedrus atlantica of 

 the Atlas Mountains. The Cedar country has been demarcated 

 under the Forest Act and the remains of the forest are now protected 

 from fire, goats, and the felling of all live trees ; while 50 acres are 

 yearly planted with Cedar. The demarcated forest area where these 

 Cedars grow amounts to 98,000 acres. About 850 yearly represents 

 the total forest expenditure on an area greater than the whole actual 

 forest area at Knysna. The Cape Cedar produces an abundance of 

 good seed and is easily propagated, contrasting in this respect with 

 most of the other native trees. It does not occur naturally below 

 3,000 feet, the winter snow limit. 



Sir James Alexander, in his exploring expedition in the interior 

 of Africa, mentioning the Cedar tree, says one of them was cut down 

 in 1836 which was 36! feet in girth, and out of whose giant arms 

 1,000 feet of planking were sawn. He bitterly complains that this 

 noble tree is fast disappearing in the Cedar Mountains. Mr. W. van 

 Meyer, another South African traveller, says that in former days the 

 whole of the Cedarberg mountain chain was studded with those 

 trees, but that of late, axe and fire have done their utmost to destroy 

 these valuable forests. 



PTEROXYLON UTILE SNEEZEWOOB. 



Perhaps the most durable wood in the world. Piles in the Port 

 Elizabeth Harbour Works were only equalled by Greenheart in 

 durability. Sneezewood heartwood is impervious to the ordinary 

 Teredo of extra-tropical waters. Pieces of wood have been dug out 

 of the ground like a stone, as sound after half a century as when 

 they were buried. Its chief use is for fencing posts, a Sneezewood 

 fencing post being worth more than an iron post imported from Europe. 



