REPORT ON THE NATAL FORESTS, 



BY H. G. FOURCADE, ASSISTANT CONSERVATOR OF FORESTS, ON SPECIAL DUTY, 

 DATED MABITZBURG, SRD DECEMBER, 1889. 



The Honourable the COLONIAL SECRETARY. 



SIR, 



I have the honour to'submit, for the information of His Excellency the Governor^ 

 the following Report on the Natal Forests. 



The instructions contained in your letter No. 442, 1883, dated March 15, 1889, may 

 be summarized as directing me (1) to report on the condition of forests on Crown and 

 Trust lands, making suggestions for their conservation, improvement, and extension ; 

 (2), to report on the feasibility of creating artificial forests of indigenous and exotic trees, 

 and of meeting from these the demand for timber for railway purposes ; (3), to report 

 on the suitability of indigenous timber for railway purposes ; and (4), to consider the 

 question of the establishment of a Forest Department in the Colony, and to furnish a 

 scheme for its organisation. 



The question of the utility of a Forest Department involves that of the general 

 utility of forests, and I have dwelt at some length on this point. 



This Report is divided into six sections, dealing successively with (1) the Natal 

 Forests; (2), their utility ; (3), protective measures; (4), the management of forest ^ 

 (5), Plantations ; (6), the organisation of works and staff. 



Much of the more technical matter has been relegated into appendices, which include 

 a descriptive list of the Natal woods, the results of mechanical tests, a Note on the- 

 manufacture of Railway sleepers, and other special information. 



I should prefer to revise the proofs of this Report myself, as the figures and the 

 botanical names in the text require careful verification. 



The forests of Natal may be divided, with reference to their nature and distribution, 

 into High Timber forest, Thorn Bush, and Coast forest, found respectively in the Upland, 

 Midland, and the Coast regions. The High Timber forests are situated in a belt along 



