160 BRITISH POSSESSIONS IN AMERICA. 



There is a certain similarity, from a forest point of view, in 

 all these islands, inasmuch as most of them require the pre- 

 servation of the forests for the protection and regulation of the 

 water supply and to prevent erosion and denudation. Their 

 forests contain a large number of species of timber trees. Of 

 these, mahogany, cedar and logwood are the most important 

 from a commercial point of view. They also contain other 

 dye-woods, and they yield gums and resins as well as rubber. 



It will be impossible to deal with all the islands ; some 

 remarks regarding a few will serve to show how forest con- 

 servancy stands, and what is needed. Trade returns are 

 available for a few only as far as forest produce is concerned. 



JAMAICA. 



The island of Jamaica lies between the 17 and 19 degrees of 

 latitude ; its greatest length is about 150 miles, while its 

 breadth varies between 20 and 50 miles. The island has an 

 area of 4,207 square miles and a population of 766,546, 

 which makes 182 to the square mile. Of the total area, 

 about 1,250 square miles are said to be still forest or jungle 

 which is equal to 30 per cent, of the total area. This shows 

 that there is rather more than one acre of forest and jungle 

 for every inhabitant. 



Formerly, the island had far more forest. The history of 

 the destruction of forest is the history of the cultivation by 

 the negroes. They have now for a long period of time carried 

 on shifting lultivation for the production of yams. Another 

 agency in the process of destruction is the cultivation of 

 ginger. It is estimated that some 30,000 acres of forest land 

 are cleared annually, cultivated for a year or two and aban- 

 doned. In other words, about four per cent, of the forest area 

 are cleared annually, and the whole is gone over in about twenty- 

 five years, excepting certain areas which are inconveniently 

 situated. The result is almost comj)lete denudation of the 

 southern slopes of the Blue Mountains, between 2,000 to 

 4.000 feet elevation. 



