22 



GENERAL. The following table of the extent of the Natal forests is reproduced from 

 the Report of the Forest Commission of 1880 : 



HEAVY TIMBER FORESTS. 



LOW FOBESTS. 



COUNTRY OR DIVISION. 



Newcastle ... 

 Klip River ... 

 Upper Tagela 



Weenen 



Umsinga 



Upper Umkomaas ... 



Pietermaritzburg 



Umvoti 



Victoria 



Durban 



Alexandra 



Alfred 



Ixopo 



Crown 

 Lands. 



Acres. 



4,000 

 6,000 

 2,500 

 6,400 



6,000 

 8,000 



Private Lands 

 and Locations. 



Acres. 



2,000 



Crown 

 Lands. 



Acres. 



Private Lands 

 and Locations. 



Acres. 



100,000 



Total ... 



32,900 



133,000 



196,000 



1,645,000 



The estimate of the extent of High Timber Forest is apparently too low in the case 

 of Newcastle and Ixopo, and too high for Weenen County. My own estimates give 

 39,750 acres as the total area of the forests on Crown land, and 17,200 as that of the 

 timber forests in Native locations, but such estimates are entirely guesswork and give at 

 best only a very rough approximation. The former estimates must have been very much 

 out, in some cases ; and nothing can be inferred from them about the rate of diminution 

 of the forests ; but there is strong evidence that both timber forests and low forests have 

 decreased considerably since 1880. The principal causes of destruction at work have been 

 (a) fires, (ft) cutting of wattles, poles, and kiaalwood, (c) cutting of firewood, (d) clear- 

 ing for cultivation, (e) licensed felling, (f) unlicensed felling, (g) grazing of cattle. 

 I will consider their effect when treating of the measures required to be taken in order to 

 conserve the Natal Forests. And before doing this, it will be best to discuss whether the 

 forests are worth preserving or not. 



