30 COLONIAL REPORTS MISCELLANEOUS. 



technically as the method of " coppice with standards," which 

 provides both for fuel ;md large timber, or an alternative method, 

 and one which would perhaps be simpler, would be to set aside 

 certain are;is for the production of large timber and exploit the 

 balance for fuel under the simple "coppice" method. Which- 

 ever system is adopted the " working plan " for the same should 

 be drawn up by the Forestry Department, the members of which 

 would explain its provisions to the mining authorities concerned 

 and help them in carrying it out by general advice and super- 

 vision. 



I understand that the mining leases in most instances carry 

 with them the right to all timber growing on the land, and it is 

 a moot point as to what amount of control, if any, Government 

 can exercise over the fellings on such property. There is one 

 point, however, in this connection that is universally recognised 

 and acted upon in all European countries, and that is the right 

 of the State to control any acts that by excessive or improper 

 exploitation of the forests or "by their destruction imperil the 

 climatic factors of the country, or, as in the cases of avalanches 

 and landslips, the life and property of the inhabitants. To this 

 extent, then, I imagine liovernment could interfere should occa- 

 sion arise with the exploitation of the forests growing on areas 

 leased to the mining companies. I do not, however, anticipate 

 any difficulty in getting the mining people to adopt simple and 

 inexpensive methods of exploiting the forests under their control, 

 provided they are helped by the advice of the professional 

 Government foresters. I think they will readily accept such 

 advice if it is given in a proper spirit and not forced upon them in 

 the form of rules and ordinances. 



This system of the exercise of the very lightest control is, 

 however, only possible as long as the climatic factors of the 

 mining localities do not alter for the worse; as soon as the first- 

 signs of such a change are observed it will be necessary for 

 Government to exercise greater authority over the methods under 

 which the forests are being exploited. The construction of more 

 railways (one is already being built to the Prestea group of 

 mines), and the general improvement of lines of communication 

 which will no doubt become established facts during the next few 

 years, will probably relieve the pressure on the forests as sources 

 of fuel, and enable other substances to replace wood for that 

 purpose long before any marked effects on the climate and soil 

 can be experienced. 



I have written at some length on this question of the fuel 

 supply for the mines as the latter represent a very important 

 industry of the countn r , and it is advisable that their develop- 

 ment should be hampered as little as possible by vexatious inter- 

 ferences in the form of forest legislation. Some of the mine 

 managers are already considering the advisability of planting up 

 cleared areas with valuable species of rubber-yielding plants and 

 with cocoa. This is an excellent idea, and if followed out should 

 prove of great pecuniary benefit to the companies, as the initial 

 expense of clearing the areas of tree vegetation, which is always 

 the greatest expense to be incurred in such ventures, has already 



