FOREST IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURE 493 
In the Northern Provinces of Nigeria, out of a total area of 250,000 
square miles, the permanent forest area, including the afforestation 
areas, would reach between 62,000 and 83,000 square miles. 
Large though these forest or afforestation areas appear to be, it 
can, however, be shown that most of them do not at all trench on 
existing farm-land. First of all, in Nigeria, taking the protective 
forests, comprising all those lands or forests situated in most inaccessible 
places on mountain ranges and hill-sides and the sources of streams, 
they cannot be said to be desirable localities for extending farming 
operations. Typical instances of this kind of land are seen in the 
Boji Hills (Ogoja province), and on the rocky hills near the Cross 
River in the Afikpo district (Owerri province). In Sierra Leone 
the peninsular mountain forests and the hills near Kennema are 
similar typical examples of this type of land or forest. 
At the other extreme we have the dry-zone or desert formation, 
with its sandy soil or bare rock outcrops. In either region, in 
order to make agriculture possible and permanently profitable, affores- 
tation areas are most necessary. Near the sea, especially in Nigeria 
and to some extent in Sierra Leone, there are the mangrove forests 
standing on land which is never used for agricultural purposes. In 
Nigeria alone these comprise several thousand square miles of land. 
Again, in Nigeria there are the freshwater swamp forests, either near 
rivers or in other localities. Although such lands produce quite a 
profitable amount of timber from many excellent species of trees, 
no farms have ever been made in such areas. 
In other parts of the country, often comparatively level, there are 
variations in the strata and soil formation, such as that of the laterite 
formation. Over wide areas most of these lateritic soils are nearly 
useless for permanent agricultural crops, so at any rate it would 
certainly pay better in the long run if it were permanently covered with 
forest. In a similar manner all forests found growing on or near rock 
outcrops or otherwise stony formations, such as old gravel beds formed 
by rivers, would be treated in the same way. One or two agricultural 
crops may be raised on such land, but all the soil is soon washed away 
in the rainy season each year, so that little is left after a short time 
except boulders and stones. Many typical instances of this kind of 
formation are found in the Ibadan and Oyo districts of the Oyo province. 
In other parts of the country, where practically all the land is covered 
with some sort of forest (either high forest, secondary growth or 
scrub), the same proportion as before, viz. 25 to 33 per cent., should 
be set aside in convenient blocks, well distributed over the area, as 
permanent forests (so-called Forest Reserves). 
Strange as it may sound, there is comparatively little, at the most 
an area estimated at 7,000 square miles, of real high forest left in the 
Southern Provinces of Nigeria. As is well known, the natives have 
