83 



all purposes is shown by the fact that New South Wales and Victoria alone import a 

 million's worth of soft woods, on an average, every year. I consider that the culture of 

 a relative proportion of hardwoods larger than is warranted by the present consumption, 

 but still moderate, would not be injudicious ; for instance, a proportion of three or four 

 times more pine- wood than hardwood might be observed. 



The best conifers to grow are Pines and Cypresses. Pinus insignia has been found 

 to be the fastest growing conifer, not only in Natal, but wherever it has been tried in 

 temperate climates : at the Cape, in Australia, on the Nilgiris in India, and in California ; 

 the timber is reported to be quite as good as that of many of the ordinary species of 

 pine,* and there appears to be no reason why it should not be grown as the dominant 

 species in Natal pine plantations. 



The best hardwoods for profitable culture are undoubtedly the Gums of Australia, 

 Some are of extremely rapid growth and produce strong and durable timber of great 

 economic utility. Foremost among their number ranks the Blue Gum, a tree that has 

 been now successfully introduced in most of the temperate countries in the world. Sir 

 F. von Mueller writes in his Atlas of the Eucalypts of Australia : " The rearing of forests 

 of our Blue Gum-tree can be accomplished more cheaply and more easily than that of 

 almost any other tree, while the return is twice or three times earlier than that of the 



most productive Pine or Oak forests It is not too much to assert that 



among rather more than one thousand different species of trees indigenous in Australia, 

 E. globulus takes the first position in importance, and among its own kinds it is the Prince 

 of Eucalypts." 



The Conifers, Gums, and other woods recommended for industrial culture are noticed 

 in Appendix VII. 



SELECTION OF LAND. There is no common elevation at which many kinds of 

 Conifers and of Gums can be planted. To grow both best, it will be necessary to procure 

 land at different altitudes : at about 5,000 feet for conifers, and at about 3,000 feet for 

 Gums. Hence there should be two classes of plantations, which may be designated Pine 

 plantations or Gum plantations, according to the dominant species, though neither need 

 consist exclusively of Gums or Pines. 



Other favourable conditions that should be sought in land destined for planting are 

 the following : 



1. A copious rainfall. In the absence of observations, this is indicated by the 

 growth of the native timber forests. These become comparatively stunted as we travel 

 northward, beyond the south-eastern crests of the plateau shown by the contour line for 

 4,000 feet in Map II. The best regions thus indicated are the Ingeli, and parts of the 

 Ixopo, Polela, and Lion's River Divisions. On the high land further up country, such as 

 the Biggarsberg, the rainfall is probably much scantier, because the intervening hills 



* The properties of the wood are given in Appendices II. and VII. 



