14 COLONIAL REPORTS MISCELLANEOUS. 



(<!>( I a mlorata, one of the West Indian cedar trees. The 

 examples n! this species in the Burdens show a remarkable 

 growth I'm- their age. Individuals only SOUK- sixteen years old 

 have acquired a height of from "() to (iO feet and a girth of 

 between '} and 6 feet at breast height. A damaged tree was 

 Mini and i he wood showed very rapid zones of growth; it had 

 '.he eharaeteristic cedar smell and appeared to be quite suitable 

 for the manufacture of cigar boxes and for veneering purposes. 

 During a subsequent visit to Aburi I was shown a polished plank 

 .ut from this tree. The grain was beautiful. Specimens of the 

 wood have, I understand, been sent to Europe for exhibition. 

 The species up here loses its leaves during the dry season, at 

 which period it bears fruit. The flowers appear in the rains. 



i am inclined to believe that this tree will prove invaluable 

 for re-afforesting the denuded hillsides in the vicinity of Aburi; 

 its rapid growth makes it eminently suitable for this purpose. 

 Its deciduous habit, however, will necessitate subsequent under- 

 planting with some evergreen species if the soil is to be adequately 

 protected during the dry season. This species also thrives at 

 Olokemeji and at Ebuta Metta in the Western Province of 

 Southern Nigeria. 



It produces great quantities of seed at a comparatively early 

 age. Taken all round it promises to be one of the most useful 

 of exotic timber trees in West Africa. 



Casuarina. This species also does well at Aburi and shows 

 a good growth. It should prove very useful for firewood, for 

 re-afforesting the Accra plains, and for the first stages in creating 

 wind breaks along the exposed sea-coast. 



The West Indian and South American mahoganies, Swietenia 

 MaJtocjani and $. macrophylla are not doing well here. Their 

 growth is poor and is being checked by the attacks of an insect 

 that damages the leading shoots. Similar damage up to a 

 certain age is done to the indigenous Khaya Puncliii (a closely 

 related genus) in the Calabar Gardens. Examples of the 

 American species grown at Olokemeji, Western Province, 

 Southern Nigeria, in a somewhat drier climate suffer in just 

 the same manner from insect attacks. There is one well-grown, 

 healthy-looking Swietenia of moderately large size, however, to 

 be seen in the Ebuta Metta Gardens in Lagos, where the rain- 

 fall is much in excess of that at Olokemeji. 



The East Indian teak tree (Tectonct grand/is) has not proved a 

 success in these gardens. The growth is poor for the age of the 

 plants and probably the soil is not suitable for it. At Olokemeji, 

 where there is an impermeable ''pan" just below the soil, teak 

 becomes " stag-headed " at a very early age. It shows slightly 

 better growth at Ebuta Metta near Lagos, but I have nowhere 

 in West Africa seen healthy, well-grown specimens of this 

 species. On rich and deep alluvial soils close to the banks of 

 perennial streams, where dense evergreen vegetation is the pre- 

 vailing type, it will no doubt prove more successful, provided it 

 is protected against crowding out by indigenous plants. Though 

 it is a typical tree of the " mixed deciduous forests " of Burma, 

 I have occasion ally in some of the moistest evergreen forests of 



