CHAPTER II_West African forests and forestry

THE GAMBIA

In the early part of the nineteenth century a considerable quantity of

African Mahogany, obtained from _Khaya Senegalensis_, a dry-zone

mahogany-tree, was shipped to England; in fact, this was the original

source of African Mahogany, as also it was the first tree from which it

was obtained. Even now this tree is one of the most prevalent in the

strip of land on both banks of the Gambia, so far as British territory

is concerned.

At the present time no mahogany is being shipped from the Gambia, but

recently an Ordinance was passed regulating the cutting of firewood and

forest trees.

Forests in the ordinary sense of the word cannot be said to exist in the

Gambia, but no doubt a considerable amount of timber could be obtained

from the dry-zone country. The total length of the colony is 300 miles,

and approximately 5 miles wide, on either side of the Gambia River,

which makes it in the aggregate a considerable tract of country, in all

4,500 square miles, of which the colony proper occupies 4 square miles.

So far only Rosewood (_Pterocarpus erinaceus_), Mahogany (_Khaya

Senegalensis_), and small pieces of Baywood, probably also a mahogany,

have been reported from the Gambia. In 1908 a certain amount of wood was

cut for the making of charcoal by a man from the Canary Islands. In

1909, 102 tons of charcoal were exported, and in 1910, 176 tons, valued

at £634. Since then no other returns are available, so apparently this

industry has come to an end. There is no Forest Officer in the Gambia,

and no proposals for Forest Reserves have been put forward by the

Government. Part of the land near the mouth of the Gambia is swampy and

covered with the usual Mangrove forests.

In the _Bulletin of the Imperial Institute_, vol. viii, 1910, p. 244, it

is stated that the specimens of rosewood and mahogany forwarded to the

Imperial Institute were reported on as follows:

Rosewood (_Dalbergia sp._), reddish-yellow with darker lines and red

pores, solid and compact, resembling rosewood except in colour. The

timber would not pass as rosewood on the market. It has an agreeable

odour, is hard and heavy, weighing 45½ lb. per cubic foot. It turned and

polished well, sawed very easily, but was difficult to plane; planing

left a smooth, bright surface.

Mahogany (_Khaya Senegalensis_) may be looked upon as inferior baywood,

the wood light in colour, of poor figure, hard to plane, but when planed

leaves the surface bright and woolly in alternate bands; very cross

grained, sawed and turned easily. Weight, 41½ lb. per cubic foot. Should

be very useful locally, but probably not of sufficient value for much

export trade.

Even in this comparatively small colony a certain amount of forest land

should be preserved, more especially that which is unsuitable for

agriculture. In every country there is always some poor or rocky land

which is not favourable to the growing of agricultural crops.

The oil palm is another useful tree, which yields the well-known palm

oil and kernels; however, here the oil is required locally for

alimentary purposes, and therefore only the palm kernels are exported.

The following shows the exports for five years:

Year. Tons. £ s. d.

1910 467 5,640 0 0

1911 443 4,756 0 0

1912 445 6,518 0 0

1913 545 9,026 0 0

1914 494½ 7,814 17 11

It will be noticed that the very high prices ruling for part of 1913 and

the beginning of 1914 had the effect of causing increased exports to be

made.

Here, as in the case of other products, planting could be undertaken

with advantage, as the yield of kernels and oil is good; even if the

increased amount of oil produced was sold locally, the increased output

of kernels would find a market in England, where they are needed.

It is a tree which allows cultivation of field crops to be made between

the oil palms for several years before the palms become too big and shut

out the light necessary for field crops. In the drier climate of the

Gambia a planting distance of probably 16 feet would be sufficient to

ensure a good yield, and yet give sufficient distance between the trees

to allow room for them even when mature.

If an Agricultural or Forest Department, which at present does not exist

in the Gambia, could not supply young seedlings or nuts for planting,

one of the trading firms could secure them from one of the other West

Coast Protectorates. Of course, in many cases, if the natives could be

induced to believe that a good price would always be paid for kernels,

they would no doubt make small plantations of oil palms themselves, as

some fruit always falls to the ground in the picking, is thus not

boiled, and so is suitable for furnishing seed for planting. It is, of

course, inadvisable to plant boiled nuts, as many do not germinate,

owing to the germ having been destroyed by the boiling of the fruit;

others do, however, as can be seen in the young oil palms sprouting from

heaps of uncracked nuts which the natives leave near the villages.

APPENDIX I

FOREST FEES IN GAMBIA

A new list was published by the Legislative Council in Gambia which

fixes the different rates of fees for the right of felling useful timber

for export.

The fees are as follows:

_Felling of Useful Timber for Export._

For each sort of useful trunk 10s. per trunk.

_Felling of Useful Timber which is not intended for Export._

For each trunk, Rosewood (Jacaranda, 5s. per trunk.

Palisander wood)

For each trunk, Mahogany 1s. per foot after felling.

For each trunk in Mandingo Falls 9d. per foot after felling.

For each trunk in Tumbo 8d. per foot after felling.

For each trunk in Jaffo 6d. per foot after felling.

For each trunk, Cotton-tree 4d. per foot after felling.

For every other valuable tree 4d. per cubic foot.

APPENDIX II

THE GAMBIA—FOREST EXPORTS

[Quant.: Quantity.]

----------+-------------------+-------------------+--------------------

| 1909. | 1910. | 1911.

Products.+-----------+-------+-----------+-------+-----------+--------

| Quant. | £ | Quant. | £ | Quant. | £

----------+-----------+-------+-----------+-------+-----------+--------

Cane | — | — | — | — | — | —

| | | | | |

Gum | — | — | — | — | — | —

| | | | | |

Ground |53,644 tons|323,231|58,456 tons|387,943|47,931 tons|437,472

| | | | | |

Palm | 389 tons | 3,526| 467 tons | 5,640| 444 tons | 4,758

| | | | | |

Rubber |15,548 lb. | 1,550| 7,148 lb. | 952|10,733 lb. | 836

| | | | | |

Wax |48,969 lb. | 2,180|25,718 lb. | 1,274|33,871 lb. | 1,514

| | | | | |

Wood and | 4 pkgs. | 4| 162 pkgs. | 63| 155 pkgs. | 28

| | | | | |

Oil | 361 gals. | 39| 108 gals. | 12| — | —

| | | | | |

Lumber | — | — | — | — | — | —

| | | | | |

Gum copal| — | — | 90 lb. | — | — | —

----------+-----------+-------+-----------+-------+-----------+--------

TOTALS | 4 pkgs. |330,530| 162 pkgs. |395,885| 155 pkgs. |444,608

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

|64,509 lb. | |32,956 lb. | |44,604 lb. |

| | | | | |

----------+-----------+-------+-----------+-------+-----------+--------

[Continued]

----------+-------------------+-------------------+--------------------

| 1912. | 1913. | 1914.

Products.+-----------+-------+-----------+-------+-----------+--------

| Quant. | £ | Quant. | £ | Quant. | £

----------+-----------+-------+-----------+-------+-----------+--------

Cane | — | — | — | — | 59 bdls. | 4

| | | | | |

Gum | — | — | — | — | 2 tons | 44

| | | | | |

Ground |64,169 tons|502,069|67,404 tons|622,098|66,884 tons|650,460

| | | | | |

Palm | 445 tons | 6,518| 546 tons | 9,026| 494 tons | 7,814

| | | | | |

Rubber | 4,335 lb. | 409|12,995 lb. | 1,027| 3,548 lb. | 102

| | | | | |

Wax |30,830 lb. | 1,164|31,518 lb. | 990|15,513 lb. | 473

| | | | | |

Wood and | 178 pkgs. | 55|1,562 pkgs.| 20| 30 pkgs. | 10

| | | | | |

Oil | — | — | — | — | — | —

| | | | | |

Lumber | 273 feet | 2| — | — | — | —

| | | | | |

Gum copal| — | — | — | — | — | —

----------+-----------+-------+-----------+-------+-----------+--------

TOTALS | 178 pkgs. |500,218|1,562 pkgs.|633,161| 30 pkgs. |658,911

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

|35,165 lb. | |44,513 lb. | |19,061 lb. |

| | | | | |

----------+-----------+-------+-----------+-------+-----------+--------

[Illustration: FIG. 5.—=African Oak (Oldfieldia Africana), showing bole

in middle foreground, near Bureh Town Bridge.=]

[Illustration: FIG. 6.—=African Oak (Oldfieldia Africana), showing Scaly

Bark at base of tree, the late Mr. C. W. Smythe standing beside it.=]

To face p. 24.