FOREST IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURE 493 



In the Northern Provinces of Nigeria, out of a total area of 250,000 

 square miles, the permanent forest area, including the afforestation 

 areas, would reach between 62,000 and 83,000 square miles. 



Large though these forest or afforestation areas appear to be, it 

 can, however, be shown that most of them do not at all trench on 

 existing farm-land. First of all, in Nigeria, taking the protective 

 forests, comprising all those lands or forests situated in most inaccessible 

 places on mountain ranges and hill-sides and the sources of streams, 

 they cannot be said to be desirable localities for extendmg farming 

 operations. Typical instances of this kind of land are seen in the 

 Boji Hills (Ogoja province), and on the roclcy hills near the Cross 

 River in the Afikpo district (Owerri province). In Sierra Leone 

 the peninsular mountain forests and the hills near Kennema are 

 similar typical examples of this type of land or forest. 



At the other extreme we have the dry-zone or desert formation, 

 with its sandy soil or bare rock outcrops. In either region, in 

 order to make agriculture possible and permanently profitable, affores- 

 tation areas are most necessary. Near the sea, especially in Nigeria 

 and to some extent in Sierra Leone, there are the mangrove forests 

 standing on land which is never used for agricultural purposes. In 

 Nigeria alone these comprise several thousand square miles of land. 

 Again, in Nigeria there are the freshwater swamp forests, either near 

 rivers or in other localities. Although such lands produce quite a 

 profitable amount of timber from many excellent species of trees, 

 no farms have ever been made in such areas. 



In other parts of the country, often comparatively level, there are 

 variations in the strata and soil formation, such as that of the laterite 

 formation. Over wide areas most of these lateritic soils are nearly 

 useless for permanent agricultural crops, so at any rate it would 

 certainly pay better in the long run if it were permanently covered with 

 forest. In a similar manner all forests found growing on or near rock 

 outcrops or otherwise stony formations, such as old gravel beds formed 

 by rivers, would be treated in the same way. One or two agricultural 

 crops may be raised on such land, but all the soil is soon washed away 

 in the rainy season each year, so that little is left after a short time 

 except boulders and stones. Many typical instances of this kind of 

 formation are found in the Ibadan and Oyo districts of the Oyo province. 

 In other parts of the country, where practically all the land is covered 

 with some sort of forest (either high forest, secondary growth or 

 scrub), the same proportion as before, viz. 25 to 33 per cent., should 

 be set aside in convenient blocks, well distributed over the area, as 

 permanent forests (so-called Forest Reserves). 



Strange as it may sound, there is comparatively little, at the most 

 an area estimated at 7,000 square miles, of real high forest left in the 

 Southern Provinces of Nigeria. As is well known, the natives have 



