192 COLONIAL REPORTS MISCELLANEOUS 



characteristic of such plant formation. The correspondence of 

 the extremes of climate with the extreme forms of vegetation is 

 quite evident enough, as can be seen in the case of the rain forests, 

 the savannah forests, and the thorn scrub; but the agreement is 

 not so pronounced in the case of the intermediate conditions cor- 

 responding to the monsoon or mixed deciduous forests. In the 

 district occupied by the latter alternations of narrow belts -or 

 small patches of rain forest with vegetation of a somewhat drier 

 character, or with formations approximating closely to the typical 

 monsoon forests, are frequently to be met with next door to ear-h 

 other, but this want of homogeneity is brought about first by the 

 hilly nature of the country, and secondly by edaphic influences, 

 which become more pronounced in regions where the atmospheric 

 precipitations are not heavj- enough to support the typical rain 

 forests. The monsoon or mixed deciduous forests correspond to 

 an unstable climate, the factors of which <are such as not to 

 decidedly favour either one or the other of the extreme forms of 

 forest vegetation. 



The attached sketch map (taken from the 'Gold Coast annual 

 report of 1907) shows approximately the distribution of the 

 various types of formations mentioned above. 



Exports of Forest Produce from the Gold Coast and Ashanti. 



The quantity of forest produce exported from the Gold 'Coast 

 and Ashanti for the twenty years, 1888 to 1907, together with its 

 value, is shown in the attached table, which has been prepared 

 from information given in the Gold Coast Civil List and the 

 annual reports of the Colony. 



The average annual output of such produce and its value, cal- 

 culated from the mean of twenty years, is also given. 



The figures show that the mean annual value of the forest pro- 

 duce exported amounts to 576,942, or considerably over half a 

 million pounds sterling. There is no doubt that the trade in 

 these products is capable of very considerable development, 

 especially in the case of timber and palm oil. 



With the opening up of the Tano and Pra Rivers to timber 

 exploitation, by the removal of the obstructions in those streams, 

 the forests are quite capable of more than quadrupling the present 

 output of timber. Similarly there are vast areas in the Waw-saw, 

 Denkira, and Sefwi districts, as well as in Ashanti, which are 

 very rich in the oil palm, and practically untouched at present. 

 In fact, the inhabitants are often so indifferent to the value of the 

 tree that they frequently tap it for palm wine. 



With a view to giving some indication of the potential timber 

 wealth of the Gold Coast and Ashanti, the following estimate, 

 based on very low figures indeed, has been prepared. 



As timber can, under existing conditions, be extracted profit- 

 ably only if the length of drag from the forest to the nearest 

 stream capable of floating logs does not exceed three miles, that 

 distance may be taken as the extreme width on either side of the 



