56 Transactions of the South African Philosophical Soctety. 
(0:29 per cent.), or, in other words, to raise Cape Colony to the 
European and Indian standard its woodlands would have to be 
multiplied eighty-six times. Sad indeed is it to reflect that small as 
these national forests are, they are held on an uncertain tenure—a 
tenure that would satisfy no prudent landowner or business man of 
any sort. 
The following table shows the area under forest in Cape Colony, 
compared with that in some other countries :— 
Area under Percentage under 
Countries, Forest in Forest of Total 
Acres. Area of Country. 
Russia in Kurope .. ee chs .. 027,427,000 42 
Sweden ik ie a Bs .. 42,366,000 42 
Austria M3 a EDs a .. 46,856,000 ol 
Germany oie es a te .. 34,350,000 26 
Norway ae a Be A es 18,920,000 25 
India .. ts 3 ai va .. 14Q,000,000 25 
France ye aes wes wus .. 20,750,000 16 
Portugal as ome es ve 1,666,000 5 
Great Britain and Ireland.. Me st 2,790,000 4 
Cape Colony .. oe “ se us 353,280 0:29 
From this it will be seen that Cape Colony stands far below these 
other countries in its proportion of forest, while the climate of the 
country is such that it ought to have a percentage under forest at 
least equal to Germany. Dryness is the characteristic of the climate, 
and imported timber has to come 6,000 or 7,000 miles by sea. 
Nine-tenths of the wood required is pine. For the last two years 
the average importation, in million cubic feet, has been: Pine, 4°57; 
pine and all other woods, 4:93. Pine plantations can be produced 
all over the south-west districts at from £2 to £3 per acre. The 
pine sowings on the Tokai Flats have cost about £1 5s. per acre, 
and at Uitvlugt £2 5s. 6d., while £8 per acre would be a moderate 
price for producing an average timber plantation under less favour- 
able circumstances. It is necessary to augment the forest reserves 
by every possible means, and the readiest and most remunerative 
way to do this is by means of pine sowings. With these figures 
before us, it seems incredible that in Cape Colony the area of 
woodlands is only + per cent. of the total area of the country. 
Though this is a sad figure, the case is not quite so bad as might 
appear at first sight. It is only the fertile coast districts that can 
ever carry a population at all comparable to that of Hurope, and 
thus have a like demand for wood. The coast districts possess at 
present the whole area of indigenous forest—areas that are being 
extended and enriched by the more or less complete application of 
sound Forest Conservancy. But in the south-west districts the 
indigenous forest that once clothed the mountains of the sea-board 
