618 



Canadian Forestry Journal, July, tqi6. 



pose of exploiting- mahogany and 

 furniture woods. At the same time 

 the checking- and inspecting of the 

 stumps of all these trees felled has 

 to be gone through. The young 

 mahogany seedlings are also seen, 

 and from the number of these it is 

 known whether sufificient have been 

 planted to take the place of those 

 cut down. The very rapid growth 

 of these trees can here be studied to 

 advantage; trees now 40 feet high 

 have only been planted a few years. 

 The relative value of the direct 

 planting of seedling trees as com- 

 pared with the natural regeneration 

 of the forest by self-sown seedlings 

 can be observed with ocular clear- 

 ness. In one part of the forest one 

 sees natives standing on a platform 

 hacking away with an axe into a 

 huge 50 foot mahogany; in another 

 place a similar tree, fallen, its 90 foot 

 bole already sawn into three round 

 logs, while in a third locality may 

 he seen a native, axe or adze in hand, 

 squaring mahogany logs with a four 

 foot side. Later in the season eighty 

 ©r more natives are engaged in drag- 

 ging one of these logs on round bil- 

 lets of wood (for rolers) along a 

 track, roughly cleared to the height 

 of a man, to the nearest natural 

 waterway; still later (that is, in July 

 ©r August', when the rivers rise, the 

 logs may be seen floating singly 

 down to the rafting place on the 

 main creek, where rafts are made 

 with logs four or eight abreast, each 

 fastened to the next from a timber 

 dog at either end, with cane. From 

 here riverine natives, such as the 

 Ijors, take the logs to the nearest 

 river or ocean going steamer port. 



The Timber Market. 



The Forest Department has sup- 

 plied the Railway, Marine, and Pub- 



lic Works Departments with timber 

 of various kinds. In some cases the 

 timber is obtained by departmental 

 working, and in others is cut by na- 

 tive contractors under the superr 

 vision of the department. In the 

 first instance, the conditions under 

 which timber is to be supplied to 

 other departments are put before 

 the Secretariat, and, 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 de- 

 partment. In 1904 there were eight, 

 and there are now 24 administrative 

 appointments. The amalgamation 

 of Northern and Southern Nigeria 

 into one administration should ac- 

 celerate 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 other, have been per- 

 manentlv set aside for further tim- 

 ber production. The revenue-earn- 

 ing capacity of the Forest Depart- 

 ment has been somewhat diminished 

 by the war, but with recent legisla- 

 tion more local revenue should be 

 obtained, which should more than 

 otT-set any loss already sustained. 

 Provided the financial position of 

 Nigeria remains strong, the pros- 

 pects 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. 



