45 



" The foregoing points are given as an indication, which should 

 not, however, be regarded as exhaustive, of the work of the 

 Department in order to enable the Government of India to select 

 suitable officers." 



Special attention was directed to the manner in which the 

 rubber and timber forests, chiefly in Lagos, had been impoverished 

 by reckless tapping and cutting, and it was urged that one of the 

 main objects of the Department should be to prevent a similar 

 exhaustion of natural resources in Southern Nigeria. 



In response to the request of the Colonial Office, Mr. H. X. 

 Thompson, of the Indian Forestry Service, was appointed 

 Conservator of Forests, Southern Nigeria (original area), in 1902, 

 and later (June, 1905) his authority was extended to Lagos, now 

 the Western province of Southern Nigeria. The Forestry and 

 Agricultural Departments of Lagos were embodied in the Forestry 

 and Botanical Department of Southern Nigeria, on the 28th June, 

 1905. 



Mr. P. Hitchens had been Inspector of Forests since 1899, and 

 had done good work in laying the foundation for the protection 

 and development of the rubber and timber industries, more 

 especially in the Benin districts. On the appointment of Mr. H. 

 N. Thompson as Conservator, Mr. Hitchens was appointed an 

 Assistant Conservator of Forests, first grade, and afterwards as 

 the Department developed he became Provincial Forest Officer of 

 the Eastern province. 



Rules of Procedure and Forest Organization * were made 

 (January, 1905) before the amalgamation above mentioned was 

 effected, and no reference therefore is made in them of the 

 Western province. They were drawn up by the Conservator and 

 shew the general and effective lines on which the Department is 

 controlled. 



The scheme dealt with the organization of the Staff, European 

 and Native ; Collection of Herbarium Specimens ; Inspection 

 and Supervision of Timber Concessions ; Rubber Nurseries and 

 Plantations ; Reports and other Official Returns, and the Organiza- 

 tion of Administrative and Executive Charges. 



The investigation of the Sylvicultural requirements of the more 

 important species of plants was regarded as one of the most im- 

 portant duties of the Forest Officer, and special attention was 

 directed to those species which supply valuable and durable 

 timber to the Natives, or furnish produce of economic value. 



Legislative measures had been put into operation before this, 

 for the preservation of the forests. Rubber had for some time 

 been provided for in a separate Proclamation and again under the 

 first General Forestry Proclamation of 1901. Both the Timber 

 and Rubber Regulations made under this Proclamation have since 

 been repealed by Rules No. 6 and 7 of 1905, under the Forestry 

 Proclamations of 1901 and ly()5, all of which were published 

 in the Southern Nigeria Government Gazette of August IStli, 1905. 



* These Rules are published in full in the Southern Nigeria Gazette, X<». 18. 

 May 12th, 1906, pp. 255-264. 



