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ships logs for others not represented at a fixed charge per log. Export 
entries showing numbers of logs, size and value are presented to the 
Customs Department before shipment. Koko, which used to be quite 
free from the Teredo borer, is now unsafe for logs after a fortnight’s 
floating in the water there. 
The shipping companies do not particularly desire logs as freight, 
owing to their weight and unwieldiness in handling. Space is left 
between them to some extent in the hold. The hatches have to be 
especially long to take the biggest logs. From Lagos, Forcados, 
Calabar, etc., a freight rate varying from 35s., 40s., to 45s.1 per ton for 
23, 3 and over 5-ton logs. Koko, on the other hand, is only 25s., with 
10s. extra for primage. This is the same with the other freight rates. 
During the voyage the logs gradually dry, and often by the time 
they are put into the timber yard of the brokers they are split or 
cracked. Only the best logs, 30 feet long and quite sound at the start, 
stand all the rough handling they get. Auction sales take place about 
once a fortnight in the busy season, though sales by private treaty 
take place occasionally. Logs can sometimes be sold ex quay too, 
though by far the most of the wood is sold by public auction. The 
inclusive charge of landing, stacking and selling at the dock is roughly 
10 per cent. of the value of the log. In fact, it is quite a considerable 
item of expense, and often makes the difference between profit and 
loss on the smaller and lower-grade logs. All logs are sold by the 
superficial foot, ie. one foot square, one inch thick “sale measure.” 
Sale measure obtains only in the mahogany trade for square logs, and 
is roughly 20 per cent. less than the actual cubical contents of the 
log. Round logs are measured and sold by extreme (full) measure. 
A wane of six inches or less is left on the squared logs, because it makes 
them less liable to crack and split at the corners, and also it saves a 
good deal of timber which would otherwise be wasted. 
Liverpool is the best mahogany market, though fair prices are 
obtainable for good logs in London. Hamburg used to be the market 
for Gaboon wood, and on the whole new woods were better received 
than in the English market. As a rule, figured mahogany always 
commands a good price, whereas plain wood, with the exception of 
roey or counter-top timber, only fetches a moderate or low price, unless 
the market is understocked at the time. The best wood is obtained 
from the Ivory Coast, and the next best is Benin or Lagos wood. Sapeli 
wood is very heavy, and found a market chiefly in Germany. Cross 
River wood has yet to be shipped and proved, though samples there 
looked very good and even showed some figure. So far, only the leased 
areas have been spoken of. Now we return to the Reserves, where, 
however, permits to cut trees can only be obtained. Here leases are 
usually not granted. The rules with regard to replanting do not apply 
1 Pre-war rates. 
