188 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



when once the work has been begun, the local Forest Officer deals 

 direct with the department concerned. 



Forestry progress in Nigeria has been less tardy than in several 

 other Colonies, though many forests have been destroyed owing to 

 lapse of time before the formation of a department. In 1904 there 

 were eight, and there are now twenty-four administrative appoint- 

 ments. The amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria into 

 one administration should accelerate the development of Forestry, 

 It is as yet only in its initial stages, and scarcely more than a 

 thousand square miles of forests, out of nearly a hundred thousand 

 which exist in some form or another, have been permanently set aside 

 for further timber production. The revenue-earning capacity of the 

 Forest Department has been somewhat diminished by the war ; but 

 with recent legislation more local revenue should be obtained, which 

 should more than off -set any loss already sustained. Provided the 

 financial position of Nigeria remains strong, the prospects of the Forest 

 Department are quite bright. 



Although Nigeria has by far the largest Forest Department, very 

 similar conditions of service obtain in the other West African Colonies 

 of the Gold Coast and Sierra Leone ; but there are no Forest Officers 

 in the Gambia. 



VI. A Review of the Botanical Features of Northern Nigeria. 

 By Dr. J. M. Dalziel. 



The Northern Provinces of Nigeria exhibit in an interesting manner 

 the transition, now familiar in West Africa, of physical characteristics 

 from the tropical forest to the border region " that just divides the 

 desert from the sown." 



So far as the progressive stages may be stated in terms of geo- 

 graphical latitude, we maj" place the northern limit of the forest belt 

 at about 8° North latitude. A convenient natural boundary in a por- 

 tion of the area under consideration may be accepted in the lower course 

 of the Benue River from its tributary, the Katsina River, or even as 

 far up as Ibi, to the Niger at Lokoja. On the other hand, the southern 

 limit of the desert is taken at about 17° North latitude, or higher, and 

 thus falls some three or more degrees beyond the northern boundary. 



Between these arbitrary limits lies the greater part of Northern 

 Nigeria and practically the whole of Hausaland, presenting physical 

 features which vary through grassy plains and rolling downs, orchard- 

 bush and thin-crowned forest, laterite plateaux and hilly woodlands, 

 to the mountains of the Bauchi Highlands. The vegetative covering 

 over a very large area can be classed as one or other type of savannah, 

 tree and bush savannah, or open orchard and treeless savannah, with 

 intermediate grades. Local topography alters the type here and 



