PRIVATE FORESTRY ACTIVITY. 



213 



the early Governors urged his burgher councillors to plant oaks 

 and other kinds of trees. South Africa owes to the early Dutch 

 settlers the introduction of such trees as the Stone pine (P. pinea), 

 the Cluster pine (P. maritima), the oak and the poplar. In order 

 to improve their properties, millions of trees are planted annually 

 by private individuals. Many municipalities have initiated 

 afforestation schemes, of greater or lesser extent, on commercial 

 lines, and practically all have devoted some attention to the 

 planting of street and roadside trees as a means of improving the 

 local amenities. The gold mining companies on the Rand have 

 established plantations of their own as near to the mines as 

 possible, and to-day the coimtry all along the Rand, once devoid 

 of trees, is fairly well wooded. The black wattle industry is 

 essentially in the hands of private individuals and companies, 

 and the success that has met their efforts is proved by the pros- 

 perity of the industry they have built up. 



Many societies are interested in forestry and the timber supply 

 of the country, and the Department never lacks their support. 

 Pubhc opinion strongly favours a forward movement in afforesta- 

 tion as soon as an adequate, trained staff has been secured. 



6. Increment and Utilization. 

 The Increment has been estimated as follows :- 



In the above table the increment per acre of plantation has been 

 placed at 150 cubic feet, that of indigenous State forests at 

 31 cubic feet, and for other forests at 20 cubic feet. These 

 estimates are believed to be fairly accurate. The data represent 

 gross increments, as the local authorities did not feel able to 

 estimate the loss by fire, waste, &c. It is, however, stated that 

 the loss by fire is very small and probably not more than 1 per 

 cent., that waste in plantations is small, but that in the indigenous 



