NIGERIA
I. THE RIVERS, PORTS AND FORESTS OF NIGERIA.
Starting from Lagos, the first port of call, the coast is flat, sandy,
and low-lying as compared with the typical seaboard of Europe with its
cliffs. Long sandy beaches with scattered coconut palms in the
background are more prevalent in this part of Nigeria than the water-
covered mangrove swamps, showing rather a stunted growth. Westwards from
Lagos there are the scattered mangrove formations in the estuary of the
Yewa River, near which is the trading station of Badagri. Following the
line of the coast, somewhat better mangrove areas are found towards the
mouth of the Benin, Escravos and Forcados Rivers. The estuary of the
Niger, extending from the last-named river as far as the Sombreiro,
shows varied development of the mangrove type of vegetation, as well as
the first admixture of other hardwood trees at the edge of the mangrove
zone. On the way one passes the Ramos, the Brass, Nun, St. Bartholomew
and St. Barbara, each forming outlets for the forests further north.
Beyond the Sombreiro the estuaries of the New Calabar, Cawthorne and
Bonny Rivers contain further mangrove areas, usually in the form of
large islands. Eastwards of the Bonny River the mangrove to some extent
gives way to comparatively large areas known as rain forests, owing to
the comparatively heavy rainfall in those localities. The Andoni, Opobo,
Kwaiebo form the outlets for these forests.
The Cross, Calabar, Kwa and Akwayefe are the most easterly rivers in
Nigeria. In the estuary of each, more especially of the Cross River, the
finest mangrove forests are to be seen. Next to these in point of height
and straightness of bole are the forests on the banks of the St. Barbara
and Forcados Rivers.
The Lagos River, with its present bar-draught of 19 feet, is followed
eastwards by the port of Forcados, showing 19 feet. As subsidiaries, and
northwards from Forcados, are the inland ports of Warri and Koko, both,
and especially the latter, being timber-shipping centres. Sapeli,
another 40 miles up the Benin River beyond Koko, was and still remains a
timber port of some importance, and from it the trade name of one kind
of mahogany, namely Sapeli wood, is derived. Brass, considerably further
eastward, is practically a seaside port, to which some produce of the
Niger Delta is brought. Degema, Bugama, Bakana, Okrika and Port Harcourt
are inland ports all reached from Bonny, situated at the mouth of the
river of the same name. Opobo, on the Imo, is yet another inland port
with a 14-foot bar at the river mouth. Eket is the small port for the
Kwaiebo River, whence small steamers run to Calabar. Oron, on the
western side of the estuary, is also a port worthy of mention. Though
Calabar is some 15 miles above the junction of the Akwayefe, Kwa and
Cross Rivers, it is the chief port of Eastern Nigeria. It is situated on
the side of a hill some 200 feet high on the bank of the Calabar River,
which is half a mile wide at this point.
Turning now to the next type of forest met with after leaving the
mangrove zone, the thick, heavy, evergreen rain forest is seen. On the
western side in the province of Abeokuta it has very largely been
destroyed, only comparatively small isolated areas remaining. In the
Ondo province, however, some of the most extensive and heaviest timber
areas of this type are found. A good network of rivers, such as the
Ogun, Ona, Oshun, Oni, Shasha and Owenna, when flooded, form the outlets
for timber worked in these localities. In the northern part of the Warri
province and the southern part of the Benin province large
representative areas of the evergreen type are found, though there they
tend to mingle with the tall, mixed deciduous forests. To a small extent
in the Owerri, but to the largest extent in the Calabar province, the
rain forests find their finest development, culminating in the Oban
Hills on the eastern side of the latter provinces. The rainfall there is
175 inches per annum.
The Sasswood is one of the first trees to appear when the mangrove swamp
gives way to the evergreen forest. Other large trees are the mahoganies,
found chiefly on the old banks; red ironwood, with its brilliant red
fresh leaves in the late autumn. In fact, these leaves are often taken
for flowers, owing to their very bright colour. They gradually, however,
assume a dark green colour as the season advances. An unidentified
species of gum-copal which grows to colossal dimensions is found
scattered rather diffusely and curiously in these areas. Different kinds
of ebony, with wood varying from brown to green black, are seen
throughout the zone, though, as with other trees, a different species is
found in the different provinces; on the whole, the blackest wood is
found where the rainfall is heaviest.
The mixed deciduous zone, which consists both of deciduous and evergreen
trees, mingles and gradually develops at the northern edge of the
evergreen rain forest; in many cases the one goes over into the other
almost imperceptibly, and it is only perhaps after half a day’s march
that one realizes that one has left the evergreen type behind and
reached the forests where half the trees lose their leaves every year. A
very large development of these forests is found in the Abeokuta, Oyo,
Jebu-ode and Ondo provinces. Very heavy inroads have been made in these
forests, and it remains to be seen whether sufficient will be preserved
to ensure the future fertility of the soil and the requisite rainfall.
One of the most prominent species is the cotton-tree, with its great
root buttresses and muscle-like protuberances from the stem. The Obechi,
or Arere, is another magnificent timber tree, with soft white wood and
maple-like leaves, which grows to huge dimensions. The African
greenheart, which may grow 12 feet in diameter, is hard enough to break
the blade of an axe. The Iroko, taking the place of oak in African
economy, is another tree frequently met with, and it extends its area of
distribution as the forests are opened up with clearings. East of the
Niger this formation is only found to a small extent in the Onitsha
province; a little larger in the northern part of the Owerri province,
and still largest in the northern part of the Calabar and the southern
part of the Ogoja province. In fact, the finest development of the mixed
deciduous forests is found in the last-named province, just north of the
Cross River, where it is really at the edge of the true deciduous
forest. In this zone some three kinds of mahogany are found, in some
places very diffusely scattered, in others up to a thousand mature trees
in eight square miles, or in a third nearly every tree a mahogany on
both sides of the road for over half a mile. The four species in this
zone vary less from province to province than they do in the case of the
evergreen forest zone, though the total number may be greater.
Beginning again on the western side, the open deciduous forest or dry-
zone formation shows itself over a very wide extent in Oyo, Northern
Jebu-ode, and in the Northern Benin provinces. East of the Niger it is
of wide extent in the Northern Onitsha and Northern Ogoja provinces, but
it also occurs in the northern part of the Owerri province as an
artificial product of man’s destruction of the original forest. In some
places this formation, owing to the trees being close together, more
nearly approaches the deciduous forest. In others, owing to the poor and
stunted nature of the arboreal growth, it more nearly approaches the
open grass savannah formation. Only north of the Oyo province near
Shaki, or north of Ogoja in that province, could it be said that this
kind of formation is seen.
One of the most prominent kinds of trees found is the Shea Butter, the
nut of which is used in the making of chocolate cream and margarine.
This tree, varying in size from a large oak to a short, stunted, gnarled
and burnt relic of better forest conditions, is found over very wide
areas in the Oyo and northern part of the Abeokuta province. Strangely
enough, this tree does not appear in the northern part of the Benin or
Onitsha province, and only occurs again in the north-eastern corner of
the Ogoja province. The locust-trees, with their open crown and feathery
leaves and long pods similar to French beans, are conspicuous all
through the zone, and near the villages are specially preserved.
Mahogany is represented in this zone as another species which does not
attain a greater girth than 10 feet and which is often gnarled and
crooked owing to the annual grass fires. A medium sized Cedrela, or hard
cigar-box wood, is found in isolated patches in the northern part of the
Abeokuta and southern part of the Oyo province. The balsam-copaiba-tree
is also very common in this zone in the North Benin, Onitsha and Ogoja
provinces.
The forests of this zone are perhaps the least valuable from the
financial point of view, chiefly owing to their geographical position
and defective means of transport, but economically they are of great
value to the agricultural community, both for their forest produce as
well as their soil-preserving and rainfall-conserving properties. The
chief timber areas are situated in the heavy rain forest and mixed
deciduous forest areas, though a few have recently been taken up in the
mangrove swamps.
As a minor, though important, development to the main forests are the
evergreen hill forests, which find wide development in the northern part
of the Jebu-ode, Ondo, Benin, Ogoja and Calabar provinces. On the whole,
the species do not vary so much as might be expected, and in many cases
it simply means a further distribution of certain evergreen trees beyond
their zone of natural development, owing to suitable climatic conditions
in these hills. For instance, the red ironwood appears next the mangrove
swamp on the bank of the St. Barbara River, again in the evergreen
forests near Calabar, and reappears in the hill forests of Oban, much
further north. Probably the most typical trees of the hill forests are
an unidentified species of gum-copal, as well as several species of
Guttiferæ.
The fringing forests are found chiefly on the banks of the rivers in an
area which is otherwise covered with the open deciduous or dry-zone
formation. Two leguminous trees are most typical of this zone. Stray
deciduous or evergreen trees from the other zones are also seen. Such
forest is thick with a fair amount of undergrowth, and the trees form a
close canopy. The fringes vary from a few yards to half a mile in width.
A further subsidiary form is found on the summits of the highest
mountains, such as the Boji Hills, with their stunted satinwood trees,
shrubs and grass. In some places there is yet another minor formation,
that of the freshwater swamps. Some typical examples of these are found
on the banks of the Calabar, Osse and Owenna Rivers. In most cases only
one, or any how only a few species of trees are found, whereas in the
major formations several hundred different species appear. The growth in
these swamp formations, both mangrove and freshwater, is on the whole
not so large as that of the evergreen forest. Again, the evergreen
forest does not show such fine development or such height of tree as the
mixed deciduous forests, though occasionally the greatest girth of bole
is found in the evergreen forests.
II. THE MAHOGANY AND TIMBER INDUSTRIES.
According to Nigerian law, timber includes planks sawn for logs and
trees hollowed out or shaped for any purpose whatever. The timber-
working industry, then, is a wide one, covering really three distinct
fields of activity, though one or more may be combined. First, there is
the felling of mahogany chiefly, and other furniture-wood trees for
export. In the second place, the native, and to a slight extent the
European firms, cut timber for local use, mainly in the forest, such as
planks, canoes and posts. Thirdly, there is the Government, which under
the auspices of the Forestry Department chiefly, and to some extent
under the Public Works Department, cuts timber of various kinds, chiefly
Iroko, for railway buildings and road bridges.
Turning now first of all to the export industry, which is most important
at the present time, though the local demand for timber will soon dwarf
that of the former, there is a definite sequence of action necessary in
embarking on this form of economic development.
As soon as a firm decides on timber-getting, an application (made out in
triplicate) has to be sent in with good maps or plans of the area, which
is applied for, to the Conservator of Forests of that circle. It is
understood that the area in question has been thoroughly examined by the
firm before the application is made. A fee of £3 in stamps as well as a
banker’s guarantee of £400 for each area of 100 square miles is also
necessary before the application can be considered. The species of tree
to be cut should also be stated, as well as the names of the villages
and chiefs occupying or living in or adjacent to the area. Owing to the
time taken in making the fullest inquiries into the occupancy and other
rights, as well as ascertaining the financial standing of the firm in
question, it is usually several months before the applicant hears that
the area has been granted.
Before this the applicant should also forward a confidential statement,
stating exactly what capital there is available to develop the timber
areas. An additional banker’s reference to the Crown Agents will save
unnecessary delay in the granting of the area.
Before the notification of the grant of the area, the licence is made
out in the Conservator’s office, for which a £5 stamp as well as three
good maps are necessary. Roughly, an additional £2 10s. is required to
satisfy the legal fees upon registration, which follows immediately
after the execution of the licence by the licensee of the grantees. It
should be especially noted that anyone acting on behalf of a firm should
be in the possession of a registered power of attorney, enabling him to
act in the fullest possible way for the applicant or company acquiring
land rights. This power of attorney should be registered beforehand,
otherwise another delay will ensue whilst this is being done.
As soon as the area is granted, the applicant should mark all boundaries
with the necessary marks, which also appear in the licence. Within six
months after the granting of the area, work has to be begun. The first
proceeding is to send in a list of trees, numbered serially from one
upwards, stating the species, size (girth at 10 feet above ground),
where situated, name of nearest village and chief occupying land in the
vicinity, together with the amount of fees and royalties payable on the
trees. The trees have been marked and numbered previous to the duplicate
lists being sent in. It is usual to pay a cheque or bill for the fees
and cash for the royalties, then one of the two lists sent in is
returned to the sender marked “Permission granted.” Felling can now
begin. On the whole, the general practice is to cut the trees down in
the earlier months of the year and have nearly all completed by March or
April. Logging, with a cross-cut saw or axe, and squaring with an axe
and adze, follows as soon as the trees are felled, and, as it takes
longer, continues afterwards right into May or June. Hauling begins as
soon as sufficient logs are ready to be drawn and the hauling roads have
been cleared. Usually different gangs haul to those employed on the
tree-felling and squaring. Eighty or a hundred boys are lined up and
haul on two ropes attached to the end of the log. The log, having been
shaped at the end to allow easy hauling over the rollers or ground, is
“snaked” along to the nearest waterside, river bank or creek. Here two
timber-dogs are driven in the end for attaching the cane or rope to hold
several together. In the smaller streams or creeks, single logs, or two
joined together, float down to another station, where a bigger raft of
40 to 100 logs is made up. In a good many rivers the rise of the water
takes place in July, and it is then that the largest number of logs
float out. Another lesser rise for the most part, except in the largest,
such as the Cross or Niger Rivers, occurs in October, when all logs
possible are got out for that season.
Logs left by this last flood usually have to stay until the following
year, when the river will rise again. Sometimes as many as three seasons
elapse before it is possible to get out some logs. The higher reaches of
the Owenna have an unenviable reputation in this respect. Several short
rainy seasons following each other successively cause the same result.
The Ijors are the chief “waterboys,” who contract to take logs down the
creeks at 5s., 10s. or 15s. a log, according to distance and nature of
the creek. The Ossiomo has also a bad name, owing to its swift current
and the liability of losing the logs.
Most labour is engaged direct, though handed over to a contractor who is
paid 1½d. to 1¾d. per foot of timber squared or logged brought to the
nearest waterside. The labour, however, is paid by the European firm,
which is entirely responsible for the payment.
The shipment of the logs is made at Koko, Warri or Forcados from Lagos
and at Lagos itself, the first-named port taking the majority. Many
firms have a branch store and office at this port, or another firm 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.[2] per ton for 2¾, 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, i.e.
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 in the same way, as all planting is in the hands
of the Department. On the whole, stricter supervision may be exercised
in the Reserves than on leased areas. Although a firm has no lease, the
security of tenure for cutting the trees would be at least as good as
under a lease. No other firm would be in the same position to fell and
extract timber as the first one to whom permission was granted. The
Government would not allow any other amounts of trees to be felled that
would injure the working of the forest by the first applicant.
Local felling is conducted by one or two firms in their areas, which
were in the first instance obtained for export timber. For the most
part, however, the natives or native foreigners fell various kinds of
trees such as Iroko, _Chlorophora excelsa_, Owussu, _Sarcocephalus
esculentus_, Ume, _Pterocarpus soyauxii_ and _Pterocarpus Osun_, Edat,
_Saccoglottis Gabunensis_. Nearly half the permits issued are for Iroko,
the main building timber of the Yoruba and Benin and Ibo countries. The
Camwoods or Barwoods are felled next to obtain the brilliant red
heartwood, chiefly from the roots, but also from the stem. A dyewood
which produces a fast colour is obtained by rubbing a small pointed
section on a flattish piece of the same wood. A yellow dyewood is
obtained from Anyeran _Afrormosia laxiflora_.
The canoe-making industry absorbs a large number of trees. The native,
chiefly Ijor, chooses the tree with great care as to straightness of
stem and length of bole. It is felled near a river bank or otherwise
reasonably accessible place. First of all two sides are flattened
parallel to each other; at the same time the length of the canoe is
chosen and the tree bole cut off at the required length. A narrow groove
about half the depth of the diameter of the log is now made with small
axes and an adzelike instrument. The log is then shaped externally like
a canoe, especially both bow and stern. Next, more wood is cut away on
the inside and some pieces of wood stuck across to keep the canoe open.
A shelter is put over it during a hot day. As soon as the requisite
amount has been cut out, dry palm branches are placed all round the
canoe outside on the ground; longer cross pieces are fixed over the
canoe of the required length for thwarts when the canoe is finished.
Long stakes are driven into the ground opposite each of these on each
side of the canoe, so that the natives can obtain a strong leverage over
the canoe. Fire is now put to the palms, beginning with the bow of the
canoe. The heat makes the wood expand and thus opens the canoe; at the
same time the natives pull down the stakes at the side of the canoe and
press the cross pieces into their places. This extends gradually the
whole length of the canoe in the course of the day, which is the most
strenuous of all, as upon the energy and care exercised on this day in
making the canoe open out evenly in its entire length and the same
amount each side depends its future success in the water. It may turn
out lopsided, or, as is often the case, a hole may appear in the middle
of the stern end, owing to the centre of the tree having been rather old
and rotten. This can be covered over, and is often above the waterline.
Canoes vary in size from the Oguta canoe, in which the paddler has to
keep one foot in the water to balance the canoe, to the twelve-puncheon
canoe of the big traders. This last will have a great hollow dug out
fully 6 feet deep at the stern end and over 60 feet long.
The sawyers cut the tree all round, fell it, and then cut it into
12-feet length logs, as far as the bole allows. The huge branches are
left untouched. A large pit is dug quite close to the logs, and one by
one they are placed over and sawn, first two sides and then into three
large planks; finally these are cut into 12-inch planks one inch thick.
Most of the work is done within four miles of the railway line or within
twenty miles of a large town, such as Jebu-ode, Ife, Ibadan, Abeokuta.
Truck loads of this timber may be seen at Ilugun or Ogunshileh, on the
Nigerian Railway.
Permits are also issued for the making of smaller articles, such as
verandah posts, culled out of a guttiferous tree; sleepers, sawn from
Iroko (_Chlorophora excelsa_); sword-sheaths, made from Ogohen (_Musanga
Smithii_); mortars, cut from Apa (_Afzelia Africana_); pestles,
fashioned out of Eba (_Lophira procera_).
The dyewood industry in itself is chiefly developed on the banks of the
Cross River. The trees are felled in the Oban forests, allowed to lie a
year or two, then cut up into long 3- to 4-inch irregular-shaped
scantling or poles. These are sold chiefly in the Oban market, after
which they are cut into small sections. Women take these up and make
lozenge-shaped bricks about a foot long in the greatest length. These
are sold at 6d. each.
Under Government auspices, one of the first enterprises was the sawmill
at Etehetem. A very hard redwood, termed Apassa by the Efiks (_Mimusops
lacera_), and also mahogany (_Ochrocarpus Africanus_) were cut. Owing to
the difficulty of expansion and the increasing cost of the logs, the
plant is to be moved elsewhere. The railway had a small plant at Han,
where timber and sleepers were cut for the Baro Kano line. At
Ebuttemetta the railway also have a small mill for cutting chiefly
Iroko, Apa, and a little redwood.
Of the various firms, Messrs. McIver had a small mill in Lagos, chiefly
for sawing up mahogany logs not worth shipping to England. Later, in
1909, Messrs. Miller Brothers built a mill at Koko town; Agba
(_Copaifera sp.?_) as well as mahogany logs have been cut; Ebbe and
Obiache, and Obechi (_Triplochiton Nigericum_), the last-named being a
good whitewood.
The Anglo-French Company have started a plant near Oron Eastern Circle
to cut sleepers out of mangrove wood, Lagenaria and Rhizophora.
Lastly, the Government have started a new mill at Apapa, near Lagos, for
cutting logs obtained near Akilla, on the Oni River, in the Abeokuta
province, and the planing, grooving and recutting is done in connection
with the Public Works yards and furniture-making establishment in Lagos.
The Akilla work is run entirely by the Forestry Department. Trees are
felled, cut into logs and brought to the waterside; then, rafted with
others, floated in kerosine tins on lighter wood to Apapa. A regular
rate is charged per cubic foot. Work was started in August 1914, and
already several thousand logs have been delivered at Apapa.
III. THE PERMANENT FORESTS OR FOREST RESERVES.
In the main, all Forest Reserves become the permanent forests of a
country. So far as Nigeria, for instance, is concerned, certain definite
and well-defined portions of the original forests have been set aside,
by agreement with the natives, as Forest Reserves. If these areas had
not been set aside, they would have been liable to destruction under the
form of shifting cultivation which the local people practise. For
instance, at Olokemeji there are several thousand acres in the middle of
the Reserve which were cleared some years ago and have not yet grown up.
This would have been the fate of the rest of the forest if it had not
definitely been placed under the care and protection of the Forest
Department. The same applies to other areas scattered over the country.
It is somewhat hard to define the meaning of a Reserve. Essentially it
is an area permanently set aside for the production of timber or other
forest produce. In many cases, however, the trees or the forests have to
be preserved in the interests of the climatic conditions of the
locality. If it is found that by cutting down a forest the rainfall
decreases every year, the springs dry up, and the land becomes covered
with grass, where actual grass fires kill all young vegetation and even
hinder farming operations, then the forest must be reserved. To take
some examples: In the colony of Sierra Leone there is a Peninsular
Mountain Forest, a large and valuable Reserve, 80 per cent. of which is
covered with red ironwood, _Lophira procera_. Then in the Protectorate
there are the Kambui Hills, Kennema, then Nimmini, and the Loma Mountain
Reserve. In the colony and Protectorate of the Gold Coast there is the
Dunkwah Reserve. Some of the most improved reserves in the southern
province of Nigeria are in the Western Circle. There are Olokemeji,
Mamu, Ilaro, Oshun, Owenna and Ondo Reserves. Again, in the Central
Circle there are the Okumu, Obagie, Gilli-gilli, the Uhi, and the Ogba
Forests.
In the Eastern Circle there are the Oban, Ikrigon and Ajasso Reserves,
in all aggregating about 2,000 square miles.
Contrary to the usual idea, we have seen that a Forest Reserve is in
reality only a permanent forest, which is primarily maintained for the
definite production of some forest or other product. It cannot be too
much emphasized that it is definitely set aside to be used wisely; and
for all the trees taken, suitable replanting operations are undertaken
by the Forest Department. The name “Reserve” is in fact rather a
misnomer. In the early stages of a forest administration it is
convenient to talk about Forest Reserves as distinct from the rest of
the country, which is usually covered with forest and termed
“unreserved” forest. It may, later on, become agricultural land; it may
also be reserved, in which case it becomes a Forest Reserve or one of
the permanent forests of the country. The main point to be observed with
a Reserve is that it is primarily for use, and not that the timber is to
be reserved and not to be utilized by the general public. Even in those
cases where the local demands of the people are great and have to be
satisfied first, before any outside timber exporter is allowed to work
the forest, it is utilized to the greatest extent compatible with its
maintaining a yearly permanent output of timber or other forest product.
Permanency of output is the watchword, and strict utilization of the
increment-bearing capacity of the forest each year. The increment is of
course the amount which each tree grows each year. This amount, added
together over the whole area, makes up the quantity which may be felled,
on the proportional area during the rotation, in any one year. Thus, to
give a concrete example: If an area is 100 square miles in extent, and
the rotation is 100 years, then one-hundredth of that area, or one
square mile, may be cut over in one year; also, if the sum of the growth
amounts to 40 cubic feet per acre per year, this means to say that an
annual cut of 25,600 cubic feet can be made each year over one square
mile of the area, in the case of a clear felling of all the trees, or
spread over an area of 10 square miles in the form of a slight thinning
of the trees. In the Temperate Zone, on moderate soil, 40 cubic feet of
timber per annum is a good yield, so that in the Tropics we may expect a
yield of quite double this amount; therefore it will be seen how readily
the forest can grow and how much timber can be obtained permanently from
the Permanent Forests or Reserves.
Another great advantage of the Permanent Forest or Forest Reserve,
compared with the ordinary leased areas, is the fact that the planting
is done by the Forest Department and not by the leaseholder. In an
ordinary leased area this planting is a considerable source of
expenditure and worry to the leaseholder, and even then satisfactory
results are hard to be obtained. He is continually being reminded of his
planting duties by the Forest Department, and he is continually striving
to keep up the proportionate amount of planting, i.e. 24 trees for every
tree felled, and this is by no means easy to attain. Although the annual
leaseholder working in a Forest Reserve may be under greater supervision
and more stringent forest regulations than in the ordinary leased areas,
on the whole his prospects of getting out greater quantities of timber
more expeditiously and cheaply are much greater than in the ordinary
areas.
Particularizing some of the great concrete objects for which reserve is
made:
Firstly, the permanent supplies of timber of all kinds, with a view to
turning out approximately the same quantity year after year in
perpetuity—in fact, if anything, gradually increasing the output year
after year. This means to say that, although the forest is cut down, it
is replaced at the same rate at which it is cut down. Putting it in
another way, there must be as many blocks, or portions or actual
“stands” in the forest as represent the number of years which elapse
between the time a tree is planted and the time it is cut down. This
period is known to foresters as “the rotation,” and in northern
temperate countries, for Coniferous trees the time is usually reckoned
at about 80 years. In the tropics, with mahogany, Iroko and other
timbers, it may be only necessary to allow 60 years, or perhaps on very
poor ground 100 years. In the case of teak in Burma, a rotation between
80 and 100 years is perhaps about sufficient to enable merchantable
timber to be produced. Putting it in another way, in the forest, in
order to have the permanent yield, there must be sufficient trees of
each girth class, so that when the largest, say those over 12 feet in
girth, are cut down, there must be sufficient of those between 10 and 12
feet, which will grow during a 10-year period (in which they are cut)
from 10 feet to 12 feet in girth. At the present time it has been found
convenient to classify each class as “under 2 feet, 2 to 4 feet, 4 to 6
feet, 6 to 8 feet, 8 to 10 feet, 10 to 12 feet, and over 12 feet.” The
object of this is to clear away, or have cut, all those trees over 12
feet in girth. This makes room for younger, quicker-growing timber.
Although, under the Nigerian Forest Law, the girth of mahogany has been
reduced to 11 feet, and in some districts to 10 feet, eventually, as the
older and more unremunerative slower-growing trees are cut down, it will
be possible to reduce the girth still further. To put this question of
the permanent yield in yet another way: All the trees from one year old,
or from the smallest size to those over 12 feet in girth, represent what
we may call the forest capital. Now, the object of the rotation is only
to take the interest on this capital; that is to say, the amount which
grows on all the trees over the whole area for one year. It would,
however, not do to clip off little pieces from each tree over the whole
area, as they would be quite useless as timber. Therefore this amount is
calculated out as so many cubic feet per annum, or so many trees above a
girth of 12 feet or 11 feet, or whatever the girth limit may be, and
this amount, either in cubic feet or in the number of trees, is allowed
to be cut down each year. Then we know that year after year this amount
can be cut down again, and as the soil and other conditions improve and
the rate of reproduction is hastened by proper cultural methods in
improving the soil, by draining and other methods of amelioration, still
larger results may be obtained.
[Illustration: FIG. 29.—=The Chief Conservator of Forests’ House, with
five-year-old Albizzia Lebbek standing beside it.=]
[Illustration: FIG. 30.—=Three Capsules of Mahogany (Khaya grandis
Ivoriensis and Punchii), from banks of Owena River.=]
[Illustration: FIG. 31.—=Capsules of three Species of Entandrophragma:
E. Macrophyllum, the largest; E. utilis, the next in size; and E.
cylindricum, the smallest.=]
To face p. 162.
Secondly, the object of these Reserves is to produce firewood, more
especially in the neighbourhood of large towns; in fact, already in
several cases, firewood plantations or Reserves have been made, such as
those at Ibadan and on the sandy flats near Lagos. In these cases, trees
five, seven or ten years old are large enough for that purpose, more
especially of the following species, _Cassia Siamia_, or _Albizzia
Brownii_.
Thirdly, to provide grazing land, more especially in the more northern
part of Nigeria, where the object is to divide up the area, so that so
many cattle may graze on each area in different years, or for different
periods of the year, so as to give the pasture and small trees which may
be growing a chance to revive and grow again. By this means the pasture
is improved and made of permanent value. It is also possible under this
system to undertake permanent improvements in these large pastures by a
certain amount of drainage in the lower parts, and fire protection in
the upper and higher parts. In this way the cattle obtain a better
pasturage and reach maturity all the quicker. In times of bad season,
too, some of the closed areas may be opened for pasturage, thus ensuring
that the head of cattle may not be allowed to go down owing to death due
to drought or lack of pasture. In this way the grazing reserve acts as a
kind of insurance against loss of stock in bad seasons of no rainfall.
Fourthly, the production of oil seeds and nuts, such as the Oil Bean,
_Pentaclethra macrophylla_, or the African Wood Oil-nut, _Ricinodendron
Africanus_. It may also be the production of Cola nuts, which thrive in
the forests in the shade, or in the partial shade, of other forest
trees, and the Cacao Bean, which also, in certain localities, should
stand in the partial shade of forest trees, more especially in the dry
season.
Fifthly, the production of fibres, such as that from the tree known as
Eso, _Firmiana Barteri_, the bark of which is used for making rope. Then
there are the various creepers, such as Kakoba, _Entada scandens_, which
is also used for making rope by the Hausa and Yoruba, more especially
fly-switches by the Benin natives. Then there are the canes, such as
Egbe, used for roofing amongst the Yorubas and Okakan, _Eremospatha sp._
(large Benin rattan), and Ikan, _Eremospatha macrocarpa_ (small Benin
rattan), also used for making rope, and a kind of string which both the
Benin and Jekii natives use for tying lath pieces together in house-
building and in making coverings for their canoes.
Sixthly, the production of domestic articles, such as sponges, _Luffa
Soudanica_, or wrapping-leaves for food, termed Ewayon by the Yorubas,
or thatching laths, Ebe by the Benin natives, and the roofing canes
termed Itebe by the Yorubas.
Seventhly, the production of medicinal plants, such as those for native
Ju-ju; and some, such as _Cassia occidentalis_, _Cassia fistula_, also
useful to Europeans.
The main difference between the beautiful, untouched existing forests
and a Forest Reserve is chiefly in the matter of management. In the
unreserved forests a lease may be granted for five or seven years, and
the leaseholder may fell a great number of trees, such as mahogany,
Iroko, etc. At the same time there is nothing to hinder the natives or
original occupier or user of the land from clearing the greater part of
the forest, except the protected trees, and making farms throughout the
area; thus, in fact, gradually hindering, or at least reducing, the
possible output of timber from that area. No new seedlings come up in
these areas which are farmed, and, in fact, the fires which are made in
the course of clearing the land for farming operations kill the young
growth of all kinds. In reality, in a Forest Reserve there is more
permanency with regard to the output of timber than in the original
forest; there is, in fact, absolute permanency. Although no actual lease
may be granted for a period of several years in a Forest Reserve, yet,
as a matter of fact and usual experience, after a year’s working it
would be quite unlikely for a Forest Department to stop the timber
merchant from working the forest again, or rather from allowing him much
the same number of trees as he had in the former year, because not only
would the revenue from the forest suffer, but timber experience would
have to be gained with another firm, which means a loss of time as well
as revenue. Thus, in the ordinary way it is more satisfactory to have
the same firm working in that locality year after year, provided they
pay an adequate price for all the timber trees which they have. They can
then invest the proper amount of capital in plant and hauling
appliances, and thus make a greater profit and exploit the forest to
better advantage than if a fresh firm came in year after year.
To give a more concrete idea of what these areas mean, we will take it
that on the average there are only 50 trees per acre which are of some
value or another, either for timber for local use or for export, and
taking the average rate of fee at only 4s. per tree (it should be noted
that mahogany and so on are rated at £2 16s. per tree), it will be seen
that the value of these forests is in all £12,800,000. This sounds a
great deal, but when it is considered what a very large number of trees
can now be utilized, either locally, in the form of planks and
scantlings, and joists for posts, not to speak of all the various kinds
of mahogany, Iroko, walnut, ebony and other substitutes which can be
used for export, it will be seen that this value is none too great; in
fact, to the timber leaseholder they would be worth at least ten times
as much. Of course, in this calculation all sizes of trees above a girth
of 4 feet are considered, for the sake of making the valuation as
complete as possible. Naturally, the smaller girth trees would not
immediately be utilized, but when we are totalling up the amount of
forest or wood capital involved in the valuation, it is necessary to
include them and put a value on them. If the necessity arose, even they
could also be utilized and would at least bring in the amount of the
lowest valuation per tree.
The Forest Reserves stand also in a special position to the local
people, for, after all, these Reserves formed originally part of the
forest from which were supplied all the major wants of the native, such
as timber, firewood, oil nuts and seeds, fibres, domestic articles and
medicinal plants; therefore, whatever the main lines of protection of a
good forest, the needs of the people of that locality must have the
first consideration. After these wants have been fully supplied, then
any surplus in the way of timber or other commercial products can be
sold or exported elsewhere. This leads us to consider the fact that a
Permanent Forest or Forest Reserve leads to a permanent source of
revenue from that particular forest. Owing to the fact that there is the
permanent yield of timber established in that area, it means that
permanent money is being obtained from those trees and being brought
into the Treasury as part of the permanent revenue of the country. If
there is any increase, owing to the increased value of the timber trees
thus gained—and the more stability there is, the better for the
country—better arrangements can be made with regard to the reproduction
of the forests. If there is a greater revenue being obtained from the
forests, even more money can be justly expended by the Forest Department
for the buying of better implements for planting and the Forest Station
generally, for the making of permanent improvements in the forests, such
as draining, road-making and fire protection. If these forests are not
protected and unreserved, then in the course of time they must
completely disappear, owing to the fact that man is so constituted that
if he sees land, which may or may not be suitable for agriculture,
covered with trees, he naturally thinks it would be better to cut these
down and see what agricultural crop will grow there, regardless of the
fact that there may already exist, or he may have cleared, fifteen times
as much land as he requires for farming operations each year.
In addition to all the above, there are the indirect effects of forests,
which have been considered in the section dealing with the relation
between Agriculture and Forestry. On the whole, it is better for the
Central Government or Federal Government to manage the Forest Reserves,
as by that means there is greater impartiality in their management and
more stability and continuity in the Forest policy adopted towards them.
In each case, however, it is essential to have either co-opted or
elected representatives of the locality, either by the chiefs or by
representatives of the people, so that the wishes and needs of the
locality may be thoroughly considered.
Lastly, and by no means the least important feature of the Forest
Reserve, is the æsthetic view. In the regions of Permanent Forests,
healthier localities are afforded for the people, and they are also
prettier and more pleasant. This applies not only to temperate-zone
forests, but also to tropical forests. It is a well-known fact also that
where there are permanent forests the value of the other land in that
locality is always rated higher, and is worth more for leasing if
adequately covered with a sufficient proportion of forest.
IV. AFFORESTATION IN NIGERIA.
The Forest Department, not being content with obtaining a revenue out of
the forests from the trees cut down for export or for local use, have
spent and are spending several thousands of pounds each year in planting
valuable forest trees. Going back historically before the time when the
Forest Department had a sub-head in the estimates for “Labour for
Plantations” or “Teak Plantations” or “Upkeep and Improvement of Forest
Reserves,” we had the annual planting of many tens of thousands of
mahogany-trees by the timber leaseholder. The whole of this was chiefly
done in the Benin district of the Benin province. Although this
transplanting of self-sown mahogany-trees into better situations near
timber camps, or at the side of falling roads and into the spaces left
by the fallen mahogany-trees, was by no means carried out very
systematically or under very expert planters, the results are all the
more creditable to those who so early started to reproduce the forests.
It is most interesting to see in different parts on the banks of the
Osse River young thrifty plantations now nearly twenty years old and
nearly 30 feet high. In a similar way in the forest there are to be seen
large numbers of somewhat smaller sized mahoganies growing singly or in
groups, only needing a certain amount of clearing and tending to prevent
their being overgrown by other forest trees. Scattered though they are
throughout the forest, it is not too much to say that the prospective
younger aged forest will be more valuable than that which originally
stood in its place.
Easier to find, though in some way less attractive to look at, are the
regularly made mahogany plantations of the Forest Department. In
addition to isolated specimen trees which are found in the forest
Arboretums at Calabar, Degema, Benin City and Olokemeji, several
thriving plantations are found near Benin City in the Ogba and Obagie
Reserves, in the Ilaro, Mamu and Olokemeji Reserves. In the last-named
are the most extensive areas of all, and also, despite many failures
owing to experiments on bad soil and seasons of extreme drought, the
growth of the trees gives the greatest promise of mature trees, or at
any rate merchantable trees, being grown in a comparatively short
period. Plantations have also been made at Awka, Udi, Okwoga and Ida.
Already on the old town site of Ijaiye, mahoganies have been seen over 6
feet in girth which have grown up from self-sown seedlings within a
period of about sixty years. The soil in this locality is none too good,
and the rainfall on the average certainly does not exceed 50 inches per
annum. Near 47 Benin villages small communal plantations of mahogany
have been made.
All the mahoganies apparently, especially when grown in “pure”
plantations, are attacked by a leading-shoot borer, which so weakens the
leading shoot as to make it fall off, and the tree subsequently grows
with two leaders. Later on this forms a large fork in the tree, which,
when the time comes for felling, is by no means to be despised, forming
as it does usually a very good “curl.” In other respects it is
disadvantageous in reducing the length of the single straight bole. In
this manner it has the effect of reducing the number of logs of long
length and even shape and large size that can be obtained in one tree.
In many cases, a log can be cut above from each limb forming the fork;
but of course these are both much smaller than those from the bole, and
are usually not nearly so straight, and one or other of the limbs is
liable to be broken when the tree is felled. In the original forest only
isolated trees are attacked by this leading-shoot borer, whereas in a
plantation nearly all the trees suffer by its depredations.
Various species are being tried for admixture with the mahogany in order
to hinder the spread of the attacks. At Olokemeji there is a mahogany
plantation largely interplanted with two species of _Mimusops
multinervis_ and _Mimusops Elengi_. So far this appears most suitable,
as the soil is kept thoroughly covered by the dense shade cast by the
Mimusops, and there is a very considerable space between each mahogany-
tree. However, the mahogany grows faster than the Mimusops, so that
after the first few years it does not have so much effect. Even so, it
tends to keep the bole of the mahogany clean and the state of the soil
in mechanical and physical condition such as to be most conducive to the
growth of mahogany.
A mixture occasionally seen in nature has yet to be copied—that of
mahogany and Chewstick (_Anogeissus leiocarpus_). To some extent it is
seen at Olokemeji, where the self-sown seedlings have come up in a
mahogany plantation, but of course they were rather too late to effect
the result, i.e. protecting the mahogany from the leading-shoot borer.
At Ilaro a most typical Mahogany Reserve, an isolated plantation made
amongst secondary growth, has more than held its own with little or no
tending after the first two years, and yet the trees overtop all the
surrounding growth. In some cases, both at Olokemeji and Mamu, either
self-sown or planted Iroko (_Chlorophora excelsa_) is found growing
amongst the mahogany. Owing to the attacks of the coccus on the Iroko
hindering its height growth, it has not had as beneficial an effect as
might have been expected. Transplanting self-sown trees from an
overshaded locality in the forest, where they usually first appear in a
more open locality, has proved on the whole most successful. Again,
transplanting self-sown seedlings scarcely one year old from an
overshaded locality into one with more light has accelerated the growth
of the seedlings, preventing them being killed by the excessive shade,
and at much less cost has thus established a small plantation in the
Benin forests.
With the collection and planting of the seeds from the teak-trees
originally planted about 1889 in the Ebuttemetta garden, a new area
opened in the afforestation of Nigeria. Seedlings developed rapidly, and
were found to grow at least 10 if not 18 feet in the first year.
Although not always keeping up this promise of exceedingly rapid growth,
more especially in height, the teak bids fair to become, as in Burma so
in Nigeria, the most valuable of all trees. On the whole it has been by
far the most extensively planted tree of any in Nigeria, excepting that
in the case of mahogany many more have been planted in the Central
Circle. Teak plantations are now found as widely apart as on the banks
of the Cross River near Ikom, Inkum, Ndeh and Ikrigon amongst the
historic stones, and in the Arboretum at Calabar. Near Ndeh, for over a
quarter of a mile the river bank is quite enlivened by the large and
showy leaves as well as the tall, thin stem of the teak. To a lesser
extent, though appearing more picturesque, is the riverside plantation
on the opposite bank just below Abragba. In a district with a rainfall
of about 60 inches and a deep sand alluvial soil, the teak so far has
proved quite at home in the Cross River districts of the Eastern Circle.
Even amongst the thickly growing grass at Ikrigon they have survived
after coming up from seeds sown at stake, and bid fair to become an
established tree of that locality.
Teak has also found a place in the plantation near Mpot and the Oban
Reserve. Going over now to the Central Circle, we have Oria, situated
near the right bank of the Niger in the Benin province, with its rapidly
growing teak plantations. Again choosing a local climate similar to that
where teak is found has so far proved it to be a most suitable tree for
this locality. Many other trees do not thrive or attain much size near
here, so that the teak is all the more valuable for that reason. Near
Benin itself, with its heavier rainfall and comparatively approximate to
the sea (about 45 miles), it is doubtful if teak will do so well. Even
so, growing more slowly, it would prove an additional most valuable tree
to those already found growing in the district from which timber has
already been obtained.
Again, in the Western Circle the very largest teak plantations are
found: even from the railway carriage window you get an impression of
the extent of these just before reaching the Eruwa Road station, and
again just after leaving Olokemeji station, between 85 and 90 miles from
Lagos respectively. Despite one or two fires, trees at Eruwa Road show
quite average growth for the Southern Provinces of Nigeria. In seven
years the trees had reached a girth of over 12 inches and a height of
over 25 feet. Happily, they were not fruiting so profusely as at
Olokemeji. This plantation is all the more interesting in that it was
made primarily for the use of the Railway Administration to supply teak
timber for sleepers and constructional work.
On closer inspection it will be seen that the Olokemeji plantations
nearest the railway comprise six “falls,” “stands,” or “compartments” of
25 acres each, adjoining each other. Although the trees everywhere have
not grown as well as on the better soil, these are far and away the
largest plantations of any in Nigeria. Each “stand” is separated from
the next by a broad ride and top and bottom by a broad road. Near by
these are another two compartments of 25 acres each, though neither of
these is entirely filled with teak, as also the first one in the other
series. Nearer the bungalows there are the first made plantations of
1908, thriving, yet growing on the poor laterite soil. These stretch
away nearly half a mile into the open deciduous forests at the back.
What a strange contrast is presented in the dense, close growth of the
teak plantation, with its soil covering of decaying and large brown
leaves of the teak, compared to the stunted growth of Red Ironwood,
small Bauhinia, some Paradaniellas and a few gnarled oak-like Shea
Butter Trees! Such teak plantations open up a long vista of future
developments in the conversion of the poor dry-zone vegetation into
forests of valuable trees, both with and without extensive permanent
improvements of the soil and subsoil. Even the large raceme-like
clusters of the flowers, almost covering the whole of the teak trees in
April and May, are not to be despised for improving the looks of a
grassy lawn near a bungalow. A glimpse through the tall Terminalias on
both sides of the Ogun, just before the curve is reached at Olokemeji
village, reveals yet another teak plantation on the lower slopes of the
easternmost of the two hills. Olokemeji means the “man of, or owner of,
two hills” (_oke_ means a hill, and _meji_ means two, in Yoruba). Again,
still further along in the valley of the stream, near the station, are
some other older teak plantations from the years 1910, 1911. Here there
is yet a different contrast. The broad, wide masses of the teak
plantation are still on one side rather overshadowed towards the
hillside by the giants of the mixed deciduous forests, such as the
cotton-tree (_Eriodendron Orientale_) and _Sterculia cordifolia_ and
ebony (_Diospyros mespiliformis_). However, later on the teak, growing
on better soil than is found in many parts of the Olokemeji Reserve,
will no doubt equal it, if not surpass it.
Further to the south, in the Ilaro Reserve, teak has not proved to be so
much at home; although growing well the first year or so, the rate of
growth since then has been distinctly disappointing. The soil may have
been too damp, and the rainfall of the locality may be a little high,
and perhaps later on it may be proved that it can be grown on the higher
land at a profit.
Further eastward and further northward, in the Mamu Reserve, the teak
has grown as well, if not better than up the Cross River. Trees five
years old have reached a girth of 24 inches and a height of 35 feet;
with its good soil and comparatively high rainfall, probably rather more
than 60 inches, Mamu bids fair to be one of the homes of teak in Africa.
The older plantations on the river bank, some three miles away from
those on the side of the Ibadan-Jebu-ode Road, have done nearly as well
as those standing on inferior soil. So far the only damage done to any
of the trees anywhere is that caused by a mistletoe-like parasite termed
Afoma by the Yorubas, and known botanically as _Polystachys odorata_.
However, only isolated trees having been attacked both at Olokemeji and
Mamu, it is not difficult to combat its presence by cutting the trees
down and burning the parasite. Still further north, on the bank of the
Ogun just above the bridge on the Oyo-Iseyin Road, is yet another teak
plantation. This was mainly formed by many of the seedlings in the
nursery not being transplanted in time and being allowed to grow up
altogether unthinned. Teak, however, forms such very persistent side
branches, and has such a tendency to flower and fruit early in its
existence, that only helps it to form a clean straight bole and retards
the period of flowering by being planted close together. Also, nearly 5
per cent. of all the stems have a tendency to bend over and form
stronger side branches than a leader, and have, in fact, rather a more
shrub-like habit than that of a tree. Again, quite 1 per cent. grow very
slowly right from the beginning and thus sooner or later get suppressed.
For these reasons, then, more are required right from the beginning in
order to form a full crop of clean-boled timber.
In the Ondo Circle there are some teak at Awshun, where, owing to rather
a high rainfall and somewhat low-lying ground, the trees have not grown
so very fast after the first year.
In addition to isolated specimens over twelve years old in the Olokemeji
Arboretum region, the oldest trees of all are found in the Ebuttemetta
gardens near Lagos. These trees are nearly thirty years of age, and show
a girth of about 6 feet. By no means growing on good soil, or in a
suitable locality either with regard to elevation or the close proximity
to the lagoon and the sea, useful for the best growth of teak, they do
not at all show the possible limits of growth of this tree. Already
sample sections have been cut from one or two of these trees and
reported on most favourably by the Railway Administration. Similar
samples have been sent to the Imperial Institute for exhibition
purposes. In a short time the first thinnings of the plantations will
take place, and it will be possible to see for what purpose they are
most suitable. At any rate, it is a termite-proof wood, and despite the
fact that the white ants often attack the growing tree, they usually eat
only the outer bark, leaving the tree quite intact and alive.
In all, about 300 acres have been planted with teak, and even at the low
valuation of the cost of making them they are worth at least £45,000. In
this case a nominal value of only 3s. per cubic foot is assumed. As has
proved the case in Burma, probably on the best soils only a period of
eighty years will have to elapse before the final filling of the trees
is made on the better classes of soil, and one of a hundred on the
poorer soils. At approximately regular intervals of every ten years
after the first ten or fifteen have elapsed from the date of the making
of the plantation, thinnings are made. With each succeeding period the
trees cut out are of larger size, and thus of increasing value with each
decade. These returns soon more than cover the cost of planting, and
assume greater and greater proportion towards the end of the rotation.
Another tree with which a considerable amount of work has been done is
the Iroko (_Chlorophora excelsa_). Here, despite many disappointing
results, care and attention show that this tree is capable of
reproducing itself in a comparatively short period. Beyond many
specimens in the Arboretum at Olokemeji, a whole plantation was made by
the Railway between that place and Eruwa Road. Seedlings come up in
large numbers from fresh seed sown in a nursery. In fact, sometimes, as
at Olokemeji, they have appeared thicker than grass. Subsequently, when
transplanted, many thousands died, the roots being apparently unable to
quickly adjust themselves to new surroundings and grow again before the
leaves have transpired nearly all the moisture from the plant, and thus
quite withered and dried it up. However, those which have survived show
fair growth, even on poor laterite soil. This soil, of course, is quite
unsuited, and certainly one of the poorest mediums in which to plant
Iroko.
Natural regeneration or the sowing of seeds at stake seems to be the
best method, as we have in nearly all the Reserves large numbers of
young Iroko seedlings of all ages and sizes coming up. In that
connection one of the most instructive Forest Reserves is that of
Ikrigon, where the Iroko (_Chlorophora excelsa_) is the most prevalent
tree. Here, where most of the land has been farmed at one time or
another and where the rainfall on the whole is sufficient to induce a
good forest growth, the Iroko has tended to increase in numbers all
through this part of the country. It may also be said, of course, that
the natives have directly helped in this process, by leaving some of the
less straight and more branched Iroko-trees standing. They have used the
best for canoe-making. In this manner seed-bearing trees have been
available, and with part of the ground having been cleared for farms,
the conditions have been most suitable for the reproduction of the tree.
Subsequently the farms have been abandoned and the young trees have
grown up amongst the weeds, creepers, and other inferior tree species,
such as Albizzia, just according sufficient shade and protection for the
young Irokos, and yet not too dense or thick to prevent them from sooner
or later emerging and overgrowing the rest of the trees. Although, of
course, many trees growing up under these conditions branch somewhat low
down, they do not suffer nearly to the same extent, and sometimes not at
all, from the attacks of the leaf coccus. This has two effects: not only
does it not hinder and retard the sapling’s growth, but also all the
sooner it reaches the higher zone or greater distance from the ground
(as far as its upper foliage is concerned), so that these attacks do not
occur. Again, the competition of the various weeds, Albizzias, creepers,
etc., has the effect of so stimulating the growth of the young Iroko
that in such positions it reaches a much greater height in a quicker
time than when planted in pure plantations. From numerous observations
it appears that after the first year the height growth may exceed 6 feet
in one season. Even later this is kept up, and if the rest of the forest
growth remains comparatively thick, no side branches can be formed on
the bole of the Iroko, so that clean-stemmed trees are the result. As it
gets older the Iroko stands less shade, and thus any small branches
which do form are soon killed by the surrounding trees. Thus it is seen
how we find these very straight, long-boled Irokos in the forests.
Again, too, it is not very expensive, and at least much cheaper, to
undertake partial cleaning and pruning amongst the self-sown Iroko-
trees, especially to eliminate forks low down in the stem. Various
experiments undertaken in the Ikrigon, Olokemeji and Mamu Reserves
showed how quickly the sapling Irokos respond to this treatment. In some
cases, trees only 2 inches in diameter and forked have reached nearly 4
inches in diameter and nearly doubled in height in one year. Another
advantageous feature of the Iroko is the rapid, satisfactory, and smooth
way in which the occlusion of the wounds made by pruning takes place.
Even in the case of a very crooked tree covered with several branches,
in fact almost forming a crown, these may be marked but not all cut
until the following year. Surfaces of less than 2 inches will be nearly
occluded over, and a tendency of the tree towards a crown will be almost
obliterated at that point and be forming much higher up the tree.
Apparently, the more northward the tree is found the less liable it is
to attack by the leaf coccus. Whilst it is found in the Olokemeji, Ilaro
and Mamu Reserve, it is less frequent in the Ikrigon Reserve. In the
Sokode it was quite unknown. This last-named place is in Togo, and the
plantation is situated in a latitude of over 9° North.
In the Ilaro and to a lesser extent in the Mamu Reserve it has been
remarkable how rapidly the Iroko increases in girth when given plenty of
space after being freed from the surrounding forest trees. In these
trees, when showing a girth of from 4 to 8 feet, the diameter increment
is most rapid. In most cases it averages over 6 inches in girth, and in
one case at Ilaro it was as much as 11 inches in one year. This rapid
growth in girth is all the more valuable as the trees of this size
growing in the high forest have usually nearly completed their height
growth. Thus the bole is comparatively long and clean, and the extra
growth is put on evenly all the way up, tending to make it more
cylindrical than before.
With the protection of the forests alone as Forest Reserve both in the
evergreen and mixed deciduous forest zone, not only are many Iroko-trees
preserved and allowed to grow to their full size, but also large numbers
of self-sown seedlings come up in the abandoned ground and augment the
value of the forests. This is an additional reason why the farming in a
Reserve cannot be continued for any length of time. The old farms become
more and more filled up with valuable young Iroko-trees, which would be
at any rate damaged, if not killed, by the farming operations.
Even without taking into consideration the number of planted trees, the
Forest Department has practically guaranteed certain future quantities
of Iroko timber in the number of small trees which have been preserved
and the potential value of the little ones grown up since the Reserves
were made. Only in one part of the country is this anything like the
case, and that is in the Ahoada district, where the natives use the
Iroko-tree as a boundary mark between the different village lands and
also between many farms. To a minor extent this can be seen in the
Onitsha district, where the Iroko-trees have been preserved inside the
villages, thus giving them the appearance of being the woods of the
country while the rest of the land is bare. It is, however, just the
reverse. They form the towns and villages amongst the trees, which are
thus preserved from the axe and fire of the local farmer. Despite the
fact that a fair number of large oversized Irokos have been cut each
year in the Olokemeji Reserve, there are many more of the smaller size
now coming on than were in existence when the first fellings took place.
Another tree which has received a considerable amount of attention is
the Cigar-box Cedar (_Cedrela odorata_), and to a lesser extent the Toon
(_Cedrela Toona_). Although both are exotic trees, the former especially
shows very quick growth. Despite the unevenness with which it is liable
to come up from seed, the rapid growth of the tree soon compensates for
this disadvantage. In three or four years it may be from 18 to 24 feet
high and 8 to 16 inches in girth. Both the largest individual specimens
as well as plantations are found in the Olokemeji forest as well.
More in place in the firewood plantations near Lagos and Ibadan is the
Casuarina (_Casuarina equisetifolia_). At Olokemeji this tree has only
done comparatively well. Also an exotic, it is most useful for planting
near the sea-side on sandy soil, and in places with a smaller rainfall.
It will also stand a comparatively dry atmosphere. The wood of this tree
is very hard, almost like Ironwood. It is sometimes known as the
Australian Beef Tree. Its numerous small branches on the stem make the
wood rather knotty and of less value for general construction work.
However, its heating power as a firewood is very great. Amongst all the
forest trees it is one which yields the greatest amount of acetic acid,
which forms the basis of an explosive.
Another Australian tree which has been used to a lesser extent for
Afforestation purposes is the Blue Gum of various kinds. _Eucalyptus
citriodora_ and _E. amygdalina_ have proved to grow the quickest of any
planted in Nigeria. Many others have been tried, but most have not
survived. Specimen trees and small groups are seen as far apart as
Onitsha, on the banks of the Niger, Ikassa, near the mouth of the Nun
branch of the Niger, the Botanical Gardens, Calabar, the Olokemeji
Arboretum and Forest Plantations, not to forget the streets of Lagos. In
a similar way Casuarinas are seen near Government House at Calabar and
in Lagos, besides the forest Arboretums and plantations.
Another exotic from India, Lagerstrœmia (_Lagerstrœmia flos Reginæ_),
has grown well both on the banks of the Ogun and on poor laterite soil
of the Olokemeji Forest Reserve. For the sake of the flowers alone it is
worth planting to ornament a garden or the edge of a plantation. The
masses of mauve flowers last a considerable time and blend most
beautifully with the foliage and any green grass near by. Although of
branching habit when planted 10 feet apart, if planted closer it will
grow straighter and with cleaner bole. The timber is hard and very
durable. So far this tree has proved a valuable introduction, especially
for planting poor soils and river banks liable to inundation.
A later, though an exceedingly good introduction is that of the
Satinwood (_Swietenia chloroxylon_), which gives promise in the
Olokemeji Forest Reserve of making a valuable addition to the number of
timber trees of indigenous and exotic origin. This tree yields the
Ceylon satinwood, which is usually worth at least £12 per ton. The
almost silvery-white tufted formation of the leaves is reminiscent
almost of the Eucalyptus, though the leaf is rather smoother and not
quite so narrow in proportion to its length as most of the Eucalyptus
family.
[Illustration: FIG. 32.—=Cedrela odorata, seven years old, with Forest
Office in background, Olokomeji.=]
[Illustration: FIG. 33.—=Cedrela odorata, Cigar-box Cedar, girth 5 feet,
twelve years old, Olokomeji Arboretum.=]
[Illustration: FIG. 34.—=Teak (Tectona grandis), ten years old,
Olokomeji Arboretum.=]
To face p. 174.
Some years ago the seeds of _Pinus Mercusii_ were planted in several
places, including those of higher elevation. Although it many cases the
seed germinated, the seedlings subsequently died.
Another exotic, the Swamp Cypress or Bald Cypress, or, as it is known in
England, the Deciduous Cypress (_Taxodium distichum_), was tried near
Benin City some years ago for swamp planting. Here, as in the other
case, the seeds germinated and the small trees reached the height of
about a foot and then subsequently died. The swampy ground where they
were planted may, however, have been rather too acid or sour for them.
The climate, of course, was no doubt considerably hotter than that of
the Southern States of the United States, in which country this tree is
indigenous.
The original Spanish Mahogany, or _Swietenia mahagoni_, was intended for
Afforestation purposes with a view to its yielding on the average a more
highly valued wood than that of the African Mahogany. However, in Africa
generally, and in the Olokemeji Arboretum, it has proved a very slow
growth and more liable to attack by the leading-shoot borer than even
the indigenous mahogany-tree.
For the comparatively dry laterite soil of the Olokemeji Forest Reserve,
Indian Rosewood or Blackwood (_Dalbergia latifolia_) has proved a
valuable introduction. Growing comparatively fast and of somewhat
branching habit, it soon covers the ground. It is, of course, better in
mixture with others in order to produce clean stems. Latterly the larger
trees have been attacked by a borer and considerable damage has been
done. Still, in spite of it the trees have gone on growing, and
apparently are capable of outgrowing the damage without an enormous loss
of increment. In all, several acres have been planted with this tree.
Indian Walnut (_Albizzia Lebbek_) has found a foremost place in the
firewood plantation at Ibadan and Ede, as well as in the forest
plantations at Olokemeji. Its rapid growth and comparative indifference
to soil make it a comparatively valuable tree for Afforestation
purposes. Although it is usually only considered suitable for firewood,
there is no doubt that its wood can be used as a substitute for walnut,
as it is in India. Already, in fact, it is largely a forest escape in
Africa, and is found in many of the old farms and cultivated places. Its
greyer, almost silvery-grey, foliage easily distinguishes it from that
of _Albizzia Brownii_, which has larger leaves.
A South American exotic, the Lignum Vitæ (_Guaiacum officinale_), is
found in isolated specimens in the Olokemeji Arboretum and forest
plantations. With such a very slow-growing tree, which may show half an
inch growth in a year, it is difficult to be patient and wait for the
many years before it will attain even a size large enough from which to
cut the smallest bowl for a game of skittles or bowls. Its very yellow
small foliage is most distinctive and not unlike box (_Buxus
sempervirens_), but the leaf is flatter and does not curl like box.
One of the most valuable introductions in the forest plantations at
Olokemeji and in the firewood plantations at Ibadan is the Siamese
Cassia or Bombay Blackwood (_Cassia Siamea_). Almost indifferent as to
soil and not requiring a heavy rainfall, and casting a heavy shade, it
soon grows on the laterite, covers the ground, killing weeds, and
rapidly attaining the size of a tree. In the plantations at Olokemeji,
the trees reached a height of over 20 feet and a girth of about a foot
in five years. It is one of the few trees that will thoroughly kill the
Econ grass. The masses of yellow flowers which appear in the crown of
the tree and also in the leader rather interrupt the height growth, but
make a magnificent show at the end of the dry season. It continues to
flower and fruit for the larger part of the year. Either as a firewood
tree or as a timber tree, it should always be worthy of a place in all
Afforestation areas where the rainfall is none too heavy. The hard,
almost black wood is of value in India, so that it should prove of value
in Nigeria when the trees are large enough for cutting into planks or
boards. Amongst the exotic trees which have not yet found a place is the
Trinkomali Wood (_Berrya Ammomilla_) and Indian Rose Chestnut or
Ironwood (_Mesua ferrua_), seedlings which were obtained from seeds of
the large trees in the Botanical Gardens at Victoria. If they grow well
in Nigeria, the somewhat heavy and flexible Trinkomali Wood or Petwun
and the Ironwood should both prove of value for local industrial work.
Although found as specimen trees in the Olokemeji Arboretum, _Copaifera
officinalis_ has not been formed in plantations, though small groups of
the West African Gum Copal (_Copaifera salikounda_) are seen in the Ogba
plantation of the Central Circle. Both these trees are doing very well,
more especially the latter, which have reached a height of over 12 feet
in six years. The former had produced some tears of gum three-quarters
of an inch in diameter in the tenth year of its growth. In addition to
these two, there is the Cameroon Gum Copal (_Copaifera Demeusii_),
seedlings of which were obtained from the Botanical Gardens at Victoria.
Considering that the last-named tree is indigenous in a territory so
much closer to Nigeria than either of the first-named Gum Copals, it is
highly probable that this one will grow better than either of the
others. Up to the present it is not known, however, how the yield of the
Gum Copal compares with either of the former. As far as West Africa is
concerned, the Sierra Leone Gum Copal has proved to be the most prolific
in this respect.
The Indian Almond (_Terminalia catappa_) is seen more as an avenue tree,
mostly in towns such as Lagos, but also in the Mamu Forest Reserve. It
is certainly one of the best shade trees for planting at the side of
roads. Its rather formal habit, with the almost even whorls of branches,
fits in with the straightness and even width of a road. By many it is
not realized that the nuts can be comparatively easily cracked and the
kernel inside is good to eat.
_Michelia champaca_ is another most suitable tree for avenues. The
chestnut-like leaf and the large, almost magnolia-like flowers are of a
white colour, giving it a “distinguished” appearance such as is
necessary for a roadside tree. The flowers, too, are used for making
scent.
Both as a shade tree and for its gum the Balsam of Peru (_Toluifera
Pereiræ_) is also worthy of a place both in avenues and in plantations.
Some seedlings were obtained from the Botanical Gardens at Pretoria,
where the tree has grown comparatively well. Not so suitable for
plantations apparently at Olokemeji is the Sugar Palm (_Arenga
saccharifera_). However, in isolated places small plantations have been
made with the Sago Palm (_Corypha elata_), such as in the swamp opposite
Calabar and the small grove of the Betel Nut Palm (_Areca catechu_) near
Lagos. Both these give promise of being useful acquisitions to the palms
of economic use in Africa.
Before leaving the exotic trees, mention must be made of the Thuya
(_Thuya occidentalis_), which were obtained from the Canary Islands by
Major Cockburn and planted on the hill at Obubra. Although somewhat slow
growing, they have thrived in that climate and do not suffer from
disease. This is the only example of a Conifer which has been
successfully introduced into Nigeria.
Amongst the other indigenous trees of which plantations have been made
there is the Cedar Mahogany (_Pseudocedrela Kotschyi_), Emi gbegiri,
Yoruba, which apparently grows but slowly in Olokemeji. It is much the
same with the self-sown seedlings and with root suckers, both of which
have proved disappointingly slow in that locality.
Then also at Olokemeji we have the dry-zone Mahogany, _Khaya
Senegalensis_, Oganwo of the Yorubas and Ogwangu of the Benis, growing
in a small plantation and raised from seed brought by H. N. Thompson,
Esq., from the Shaki district in 1910. So far the growth has been
comparatively rapid, though the tree is occasionally attacked by the
leading-shoot borer, which makes it fork comparatively low down.
Of the African Walnut and the Long-capsuled Mahogany, _Lovoa Klaineana_
and _Entandrophragma Candollei_, most isolated specimens and groups
appear to have been planted in the leased areas of Benin. In addition to
these, some other specimens and small plantations are found in the
Calabar, Degama, Benin and Olokemeji Arboretums, as well as in the
plantations of the Ogba and Olokemeji. Thus far only the Long-capsuled
Mahogany has been planted in these; the difficulty of obtaining seed of
the African Walnut has precluded its wider distribution in the various
plantations. Long-capsuled Mahogany grows very fast, usually with an
undivided stem and a big tuft of long pinnate leaves near the top of the
tree. Stump shoots form very readily and soon attain a large size, as is
noticeable in the specimen in the Benin Arboretum.
The plantations of Ebony (_Diospyros mespiliformis_), Kanran of the
Yorubas, have been made in the Olokemeji Forest Reserve. Although, of
course, very slow growing, it demands further attention, as it yields a
good black ebony.
Amongst the soft woods there are plantations of _Triplochiton
Nigericum_, Arere of the Yorubas and Obechi of the Benis, in the
Olokemeji Forest Reserve. At first growing rather slowly, they bid fair
to prove one of the most rapid growing trees. A mixture where teak was
introduced to fill up the blanks will be interesting to watch in its
future development, as to whether the teak will eventually outgrow the
forest maple.
Although the firewood plantations at Ibadan and certain parts of the
plantations of Olokemeji have been filled up with West African Walnut
(_Albizzia Brownii_), Ayinre Bonabona of the Yorubas, they will prove
probably of greater value for the production of timber than for
firewood. However, as a firewood tree it has yielded several cords of
wood from one tree after only seven years of growth. So far it has
certainly proved to be the tree which produces the greatest amount of
firewood in the shortest period of time. It sprouts well from the stump,
so that for a time its reproduction is very easy and assured.
The Oil Bean (_Pentaclethra macrophylla_), Apara of the Yorubas and
Opaga of the Benis, is found chiefly reproduced artificially, either by
being sown at stake or planted along the sides of the roads in the
Owerri and Benin provinces. Considering the hardness of the wood, the
tree grows not excessively slowly, though, of course, compared to a
softwood it is slow.
Camwood (_Pterocarpus Osun_), Osun by the Yorubas, Ume by the Benis, has
found a place in the Mamu Forest Reserve, its congener _Pterocarpus
Indicus_ having been planted in the Olokemeji Forest Reserve. However,
as far as the size and habit of growth is concerned, the African Redwood
or Barwood appears to be much superior to the Indian Paduak. The latter
usually soon develops a triple stem with many small side-branches,
whereas the African species always shows an undivided stem. In rate of
growth “Osun” seems to be rather slow compared to many other trees.
Self-sown seedlings come up readily in suitable localities, such as the
Ikrigon Reserve, and on the whole develop more quickly. Anyhow, the
continual demand in increasing amounts of this red dye-wood necessitates
the careful preservation of the tree in the forest, as well as its
continual reproduction by natural regeneration or plantations in the
Forest Reserve.
Amongst the Mamu Forest Plantations there is that of African Oak
(_Afzelia Africana_), Apa (Yoruba), Aligna (Benin), one of the few
survivals of the efforts made to reproduce this tree artificially. The
many insect and rodent enemies give isolated plantation seedlings very
little chance to develop.
Although Shea Butter (_Butyrospermum Parkii_), Emi Ori or Emigidi
(Yoruba), has been tried as a plantation tree, the germination of the
nuts is very poor, and the rodents attack them unmercifully. Apparently
root-suckers form the chief means of reproduction for this tree. They
are very prevalent and very persistent once they have sprouted. The
forest fires destroy a great deal of the flower in the early part of the
year, preventing formation of the fruit, and thus the means of
reproduction by seed is very much reduced. The improvement in trees
protected from fire at Olokemeji is most marked.
At Degema there is a plantation of _Mimusops Djave (?)_, or Aganokwi of
the Benis, which shows comparatively fast growth; in eleven years the
trees had reached a height of about 25 feet and a girth of 2 feet 6
inches. Although it sprouts well from the stump, it is easier to raise
from seed, but the seedlings require great care in transplanting.
At Olokemeji, Shinglewood (_Terminalia Superba_), Afara, by the Yorubas
and Egoyn Nufwa by the Benis, is being tried in a mixed plantation. The
growth has been rapid, and would probably surpass that of teak after the
first five years.
Over considerable areas of the Olokemeji and the Ibadan plantations the
Yoruba Chewstick, or Ayin of the Yorubas (_Anogeissus leiocarpus_), has
been planted. Its growth has been moderately rapid, reaching a height of
about 8 feet in four years. In addition to the value of its wood both as
a chewstick and from the fact that a mordant for dyes can be made from
its ashes, the young plant kills all the Econ grass growing round it
with its leaf fall. This makes the tree one of the most advantageous for
Afforestation purposes. Its light-green foliage and delicate, graceful
build, and slender bole and branches, make it also valuable as an avenue
tree in the dryer parts of the country. In its similarity to the
European birch it might almost be called the birch of Africa.
With the Dika Nut (_Irvingia Barteri_), Oro by the Yorubas and Okherli
by the Benis, small sample plots have been made in the Mamu Reserve and
isolated specimens planted near the Calabar Arboretum.
Although not for Afforestation purposes but for the production of Palm
Wine, _Raffia vinifera_, Ako by the Yoruba, Augor by the Benis, has been
planted and seeds distributed amongst the villagers of the upper parts
of the Cross River districts. When these are grown there will not be
such a demand for cutting down the oil-palm-tree for making palm wine as
there is at the present time.
Allowing only a value of 3d. per tree on all the trees planted during
the last fifteen years, all the mahoganies and plantations are worth
£240,000.
In two circles and parts of a third a great deal of work of an
Afforestation nature was undertaken years before any actual forest
plantation could be made. These are the communal rubber plantations of
the Ireh Rubber (_Funtumia elastica_). In the Central Circle, near over
700 villages and towns, plantations varying from a hundred plants to
ones covering several acres and containing many thousands, were made,
aggregating in all the setting out of over a million trees in a period
of about five years. In the Eastern Circle, in over a hundred villages,
and in the Ondo and Western Circles over two hundred village plantations
were made. Subsequently Para Rubber (_Hevea Braziliensis_) was added and
substituted for the Funtumia wherever the climate was suitable for it.
Now the communities concerned have a very valuable asset, which they can
tap from year to year and augment at their leisure. Whatever happens to
the forest or the immediate neighbourhood of the village, there will at
any rate remain the rubber plantation, giving grateful shade to the
roadsides and the ground near the villages. In one case a village
planted over 1,200 Para rubber-trees, which even as a commercial asset
are by no means to be despised.
In addition to these efforts on the part of the natives, acting under
the advice and guidance of the Forest Department, there are the numerous
rubber plantations in all the Forest Reserves. In the earlier days these
were planted with Funtumia, where, for instance, in the Mamu Forest
Reserve nearly one square mile of land is planted with this tree.
Then, again, there are the district plantations, more especially in the
Eastern Circle, where in many cases Para Rubber was planted instead of
Funtumia. These areas are for the most part smaller than those of the
Forest Reserve or Communal Plantations. They served more as
demonstration areas to show how rubber would grow in that locality.
Furthermore, near almost each native court in the Eastern Circle rubber
plantations, in many cases of Para and in others of Funtumia, were made.
The general cost of the Communal District and Native Court Plantation
was practically limited to the amount involved in payment of the native
Forest staff. These men, however, had other duties to perform, and on
the average certainly not more than one-third of their time was occupied
in the making of these plantations. For the making of the other
plantations of the Forest Reserve about £2,500, or sometimes £3,000, has
been spent annually in making them and in the cost of their upkeep once
they have been made. Owing to the long dry season in Nigeria the number
of plants failing to survive it is somewhat high, and this very
considerably increases the cost of the final establishment of the
plantation. For some years the cost in many cases amounted to £10 per
acre for the first year and £1 or £2 for subsequent years, for the cost
of “beating up” and keeping the plantations clean. With the greater
experience gained both in regard to the habits of the different trees
and in the methods of reproduction most suitable to various parts of
Nigeria, the cost has been somewhat lessened. However, even so, the cost
compared to European or English plantations is not abnormally high. In
Africa there is no land to buy, and no wire-netting is needed for the
plantations, and the land usually planted has not a “letting” or
“sporting” value, as it has in England. The buying out or compensating
of the native rights of the usufruct of the soil is not so very
expensive, especially when it is spread over comparatively large areas,
as it usually is in West Africa. Then, again, even with the cost of £10
per acre, the total value of a crop after fifty or sixty years would
certainly not be less than 3s. per cubic foot of the timber, which thus
allows ample margin for 5 per cent. compound interest on the original
outlay, and a profit besides. In many cases the timber would be worth a
great deal more, and also the value of the intermediate thinnings is not
inconsiderable. Both these factors have been left out of the account, in
order not to in any way exaggerate or make too optimistic estimates of
the value of a forest plantation. But beyond the financial side of the
value of forest plantations, more especially in a tropical country like
Nigeria, is the very valuable indirect effect they have on the whole
welfare of the country.
First of all, plantations in forest groves improve and beautify a
locality, whether on the level or amongst hills.
In the second place, the forest induces a greater rainfall in itself and
its immediate vicinity.
Then the rainfall which actually falls in the forest is partly re-
evaporated to fall again, thus making extra rainfall, and also the rain
which actually reaches the ground in the forest is only gradually
absorbed, thus making the flow of springs and rivers regular.
Both on the level and especially on slopes, a covering of trees, such as
a forest, hinders the washing away of the surface soil or tilth of the
land.
Forest trees only require one-twelth of the mineral matter out of the
soil that an agricultural crop does, covering the same area.
In a forest plantation there is always greater humidity in the air, and
thus many plants of economic value, such as cocoa, can grow in its
vicinity, which would otherwise not be possible to be grown in that
locality.
A forest acts as a moderating influence on the temperature of the air,
being lower inside the forest than outside, when the sun is very hot.
Conversely, when it is cold outside in the “harmattan” season it is
warmer in the forest.
Nearer the interior of the forest certain better grasses and pasture are
found, which are of incalculable value, in a drought, to the cattle in
that locality.
During the long period of the rotation, usually at least 60 or 80 years,
in most forests there are large accumulations of leaf mould or litter,
which on occasion can be used in reasonable quantities for manuring
neighbouring agricultural lands. This is of incalculable benefit where
the ground outside the forest is comparatively poor and dry.
It has been proved also that in these long forest rotations the mineral
rock and subsoil have time to weather, and add further mineral matter to
the enrichment of the soil.
The forest, too, provides grateful shelter and sanctuary for game
animals and birds of all kinds, thus providing, especially in Africa,
the largest source of meat which the native has.
When all these indirect advantages and good effects of the forest are
added together and a definite value put on them, and then considered in
addition to all the timber and firewood the forest produces, it will be
seen how wonderfully and providentially beneficial the forests really
are, and also how absolutely essential they are in a country like
Africa.
Just as effective, and cheaper, except perhaps as regards time, than the
artificially made forest plantation, are the protected forests; even in
the worst case, starting with a poor country growth and small dry-zone
shrubs and trees, after ten years there is a compact, close-growth,
medium-sized tree with straightened stem and less branching habit, and
the ground comparatively free from grass. During a further period this
forest can be thinned out by removing the poorer shrubs and trees and
allowing seedlings of more valuable species to come up. They will often
do this in the shade of poorer and more hardy trees. Still later, as the
soil-moisture conditions improve, the humidity increases as well as the
rainfall; still other species come in or can be introduced artificially.
Eventually, by the end of the first rotation there is probably quite a
different forest to that in existence at the time of the annual grass-
fires, and one which is more akin to the original forests before the
advent of Man with his firestick.
Quite apart from any money which has been spent on direct forest
plantations, the indirect effect of the protection afforded to the trees
in the various forest reserves is of almost incalculable value. If the
figure should be calculated out even at a low rate of only £1 per acre,
then the total value is £768,000 for the Reserves already made. Again,
considering this result has only been attained after about fifteen
years’ work, it will only go to show the vast potentialities and
resources that may be eventually created, or preserved from destruction,
in Nigeria.
MEASUREMENTS OF PLANTED TREES IN THE OLOKEMEJI RESERVE
[Orig. Age 1911: Original Age in 1911.
Av. Growth: Mean Average Growth in One Year.
H.ft.: Height in feet.
G.in.: Girth in inches.]
----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------
|Orig.|1911.|1912.|1913.|1911.|1912.|1913.|Av. Growth
Species. | Age +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
|1911 |H.ft.|H.ft.|H.ft.|G.in.|G.in.|G.in.|H.ft.|G.in.
----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
1. Tectona | 3½ |27 |30·5 |34 |15·25|18·25|21 | — | —
grandis | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
2. „ „ | 5½ |32·5 |37·25|38 |24·25|28 |32·5 | — | —
| | | | | | | | |
3. „ „ | 3½ |26·5 |32·75|34·5 |14·75|19·5 |23·5 | — | —
| | | | | | | | |
4. „ „ | 3½ |25·5 |28·75| — |12·25|16·0 |18·5 | — | —
| | | | | | | | |
5. „ „ | 3½ |25·5 |29 | — |13 |15·5 |18·5 | — | —
| | | | | | | | |
6. „ „ | 3½ |27 |32·35| — |15·25|18·5 |21·5 | — | —
| | | | | | | | |
7. „ „ | 3½ |11 |17 | — |8 |10 |12 | — | —
| | | | | | | | |
8. „ „ | 3½ |24 |24·75| — |10·5 |13 |15·5 | — | —
| | | | | | | | |
9. „ „ | 3½ |21 |21·5 | — |12·25|15 |19 | — | —
| | | | | | | | |
10. „ „ | 3½ |24·5 |26·25| — |13 |16 |18 | — | —
| | | | | | | | |
11. „ „ | 3½ |21 |26·5 | — |14·75|19 |22 | — | —
| | | | | | | | |
12. „ „ | 3½ |22 |28·25| — |12·75|15·5 |27 | — | —
| | | | | | | | |
13. „ „ | 3½ |23 |29·25| — |13·5 |15·5 |18 | — | —
| | | | | | | | |
14. „ „ | 3½ |32 |37·25| — |15 |19 |22·5 | — | —
| | | | | | | | |
15. „ „ | 3½ |21 | — | — |10 | — | — | — | —
| | | | | | | | |
16. „ „ | 3½ |12 | — | — | 4·5 | — | — | — | —
| | | | | | | | |
17. „ „ | 3½ |32·5 | — | — |12·25| — | — | — | —
| | | | | | | | |
18. „ „ | 3½ |22 |56 | — |10·5 |45 | — | — | —
| | | | | | | | |
19. „ „ | 8½ |51 | — | — |42·75| — |48 | — | —
| | | | | | | | |
20. „ „ | 8½ |47·5 |51·5 | — |37 |39 |42 |7·62*|4·83*
| | | | | | | | |
21. Cedrela | 6½ |40 |43·75|49 |36·5 |41 |45 |6·8 |6·28
odorata | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
22. „ „ | 6½ |35·5 |40·50|44 |27·25|30·50|34·5 |6·15 |4·74
| | | | | | | | |
23. Chlorophora | 4½ |13 |19·75|23·5 |15 |21 |27·75|4·16 |4·72
excelsa | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
24. Triplochiton| 2½ |25 |31·75|35·5 |12 |16 |19·5 |12·3 |19·0
Nigericum | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
25. Terminalia | 8½ |65 |73·0 |74 |48 |51 |53 |8·31 |6·0
superba | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
26. Eucalyptus | 8½ |95·5 |90·75|94 |34·75|37 |37 |10·98|4·26
sp. | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
27. Khaya sp. | 3½ |22 |33·5 |39 |10 |15·5 |19 |9·0 |4·23
| | | | | | | | |
28. „ „ | 3½ |15 |23·5 |28 |9·75 |13 |15 |6·34 |3·59
| | | | | | | | |
29. Casuarina | — | — |22·5 |30 | — | — |11 | — | —
sp. | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
30. „ „ | — | — |22·5 |30 | — | — |10·5 | — | —
----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
* Average for twenty teak-trees.
V. THE FOREST DEPARTMENT.[3]
European Forest Officers are of two ranks, the _scientifically_ trained
Conservators of Forests and the _executively_ trained Foresters.
The scope of this paper will only cover the former, as very few of the
latter are Europeans, and most of them Nigerians.
From Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh, graduates in Forestry can usually
be procured. The training at these centres covers roughly a year or a
year and a half’s work on the elementary subjects, such as Botany,
Mathematics, Geology, Mensuration, Surveying, and Political Economy. In
addition, a year or two years’ work on the professional subjects,
Silviculture or the growing of Forests, Forest Protection, Forest
Utilization, Forest Botany, Forest Entomology, Forest History and Forest
Policy is required. At the end of the course, six months’ practical work
in Scottish or English forests follows, during which period working
plans and market conditions are especially studied.
After being accepted for appointment in Nigeria, a further three months’
course is taken at the Royal Gardens, Kew; and six months’ practical
work on the Continent was (before the war) usually required. At Kew, the
object is to acquire a working knowledge of the most important Botanical
Orders which contain the African trees. The continental course shows the
student forests which have been under a definite scheme of management
for over a hundred years. It takes one, in fact, right through the life-
history of a tree from a seedling in the nursery-bed to the well-grown
financially mature tree, marked ready for the axe, a period of about
eighty years.
The initial appointment is for three years on probation, after which it
may be confirmed. The initial salary of an Assistant Conservator of
Forests is £300 per annum, rising by increments of £15 to £400 per
annum. The first appointment dates from the day of sailing, the passage
being paid by the Nigerian Government, and salary on half-pay begins
from the date of departure until the arrival in Nigeria, when full
salary begins to accrue. Intending candidates should bear in mind that
an early selection for appointment entitles them to seniority over other
candidates who, owing to their being fully qualified, are appointed
immediately, and thus reach the Colony before them. Locally, a commuted
travelling allowance of £42 per annum is drawn to compensate for the
extra cost entailed in inspecting the forests. A limited number of
carriers, or other means of transport, are provided by the Government.
For the purpose of more rapidly getting about, a bicycle, motor, or
horse may be kept, and an allowance is given for maintenance. The cost
of living is high, even when furnished quarters or a bungalow are
provided.
[Illustration: FIG. 35.—=Teak, six years old, Olokomeji Arboretum.=]
[Illustration: FIG. 36.—=Khaya Senegalensis, five years old, from seed
obtained by H. N. Thompson, Esq., in Shaki District.=]
[Illustration: FIG. 37.—=Mature Iroko Tree (Chlorophora excelsa), over
12 feet in girth in 1911, since cut down and used for building the Chief
Conservator of Forests’ House.=]
To face p. 184.
Lagos is the first port of call in Nigeria, and there is a railway
journey of 123 miles before reaching Ibadan, the temporary headquarters
of the Forest Department. Olokomeji, 90 miles from Lagos, is the old
headquarters, and from here the forestry work of the Southern Provinces
is directed. Zaria, situated some 450 miles from Lagos, is the
headquarters of the Forestry Department in the Northern Provinces.
A newly appointed officer would be liable to be sent to either of these
last-named places; but owing to the larger number of men being stationed
in the Southern Provinces, the majority are sent to that centre.
Olokomeji is in the middle of a Forest Reserve 26 square miles in
extent, and is also the headquarters both of the Western Circle and of
its northern division. In each circle there is a Conservator of Forests
in charge, and he has an assistant to manage each division. In the event
of a shortage of staff it may happen that a new man is put in charge of
a division and thus has an opportunity of learning all about the work
much more quickly than would otherwise be the case. In the ordinary way
he only corresponds with his Conservator and the timber interests of his
division on purely local matters.
Since 1901, a moderately large Arboretum has been planted at Olokomeji,
containing quite a number of indigenous trees growing under natural
conditions, according to the type of climate found in that locality, and
also some exotic trees which grow in similar climates in Asia or South
America. In a comparatively short time the new Forest Officer can get a
very fair idea of the most important timber trees found locally, as well
as elsewhere. In connection with the work of renewing the labels on
specimen trees, ocular demonstration of all these trees is obtainable.
The local Ranger can usually supply the vernacular names, and here is a
wide field for linguistic qualifications. Yoruba is the local language,
Benin is spoken by a large number of people in the Central Circle, and
Hausa by nearly all itinerant traders throughout the country. Ibo,
another language, is spoken by nearly 3,000,000 inhabitants, while many
of the Cross River people (Eastern Circle) speak Efik; some, however,
speak New Calabar or Ibibio, while again, in a large part of the Niger
Delta, Brass or Ijor is spoken. Sooner or later the language of the
locality should be acquired, and in fact this is prescribed by
Government order as a necessary preliminary to the granting of the first
increment.
The routine office work includes simple book-keeping, analysis of
records, appointments of staff, the engagement of native labour and all
payments. The executive work outside is carried out by the Forest
Guards, Foresters, and Rangers, who require constant supervision. Owing
to the distance, only some of them can report at Forest Headquarters
each month, and the rest must be seen when the Forest Executive Officer
makes his tour of inspection. If possible, travelling should take the
place of indoor work for at least ten days a month.
At first sight, on examining the tropical forest, it appears like a very
mixed collection of different kinds of trees; on closer inspection,
however, similarities and contrasts are apparent, such as Ebony,
_Diospyros mespiliformis_, with its thin, black scaly bark, and that of
the somewhat regularly, deeply fissured bullet-wood tree, _Mimusops
multinervis_, and its white latex, which the former does not exude.
In walking through a forest, it is normally best to make the carriers
precede. Owing to their tendency to lag, and their desire to sit down at
inconvenient times, it is an advantage to have them in front. Frequently
one may have to stop and examine a flower or leaf, and it only adds to
the carriers’ labour if the whole column has to stop whilst seeds and
specimens are being collected. A march of about 15 miles is sufficient,
and takes up the better part of the day, if an examination of the
forests is being made on the way. In most parts villages are eight to
ten miles apart, sometimes nearer; so the carriers can stop and purchase
food. In the larger forests, however, a distance of over 20 miles is
sometimes covered without sight of a house; in that case the people of
the last village are asked to bring food for the carriers, and the
carriers themselves are given a day’s food as well, which has to be
cooked on reaching camp. In some places the chiefs provide food (yams,
etc.), which is distributed to the carriers, or in some places 3d. a day
per head is allowed them for purchasing food. So long as the carrier
gets food and his load is not excessively heavy, he is quite cheerful
and walks well. He will pick his way in mud, over roots, and up the
steepest rocks in the hill forests.
Current wages vary from 9d. to 1s. a day, the head-man getting from 1s.
to 2s. a day. Local felling-permits being issued both by the District
and Forest Officers to natives for felling timber for local use, at
District Stations a call is paid the District Officer to discuss current
forest questions and examine the permit books. At the same time there is
an opportunity of seeing what further development of forest work is
possible in the district. The local Forest Guards, Foresters, or Forest
Rangers report themselves, usually giving a very good account of the
local forest conditions. Since the demand for local timber has been
growing, a stop may have to be made to supervise the marking or girdling
of suitable trees for bridge-building under the auspices of the Public
Works Department. On a journey through the mahogany forest, the
different camps of the timber firms have to be visited. These firms have
hundreds of square miles for the purpose of exploiting mahogany and
furniture woods. At the same time the checking and inspecting of the
stumps of all the trees felled has to be gone through. The young
mahogany seedlings are also seen, and from the number of these it is
known whether sufficient have been planted to take the place of those
cut down. The very rapid growth of these trees can here be studied to
advantage; trees now 40 feet high have only been planted a few years.
The relative value of the direct planting of seedling trees as compared
with the natural regeneration of the forest by self-sown seedlings can
be observed with ocular clearness. In one part of the forest one sees
natives standing on a platform hacking away with an axe into a huge
50-feet mahogany; in another place a similar tree, fallen, its 90-feet
bole already sawn into three round logs: while in a third locality may
be seen a native, axe or adze in hand, squaring mahogany logs with a
4-feet side. Later in the season eighty or more natives are engaged in
dragging one of these logs on round billets of wood (for rollers) along
a track, roughly cleared to the height of a man, to the nearest natural
water-way; still later (that is, in July or August), when the rivers
rise, the logs may be seen floating singly down to the rafting-place on
the main creek, where rafts are made with logs four or eight abreast,
each fastened to the next, from a timber-dog at either end, with cane.
From here, riverine natives such as the Ijors take the logs to the
nearest river or ocean-going steamer port.
The administrative work of the Department is in the hands of the Senior
Conservators of Forests, under whom the Conservators manage their
circles. The Chief Conservator of Forests, the head of the Department,
initiates and controls the whole policy of the Department, being
relieved of all details of administration. In order to ensure continuity
of policy and action, a Working-plans Division has been formed. A
working plan for the forests is a scheme of management laid down for a
number of years; no change can be made in such a plan without special
reference both to the head of that division and to the head of the
Department. With only one year’s service, followed by leave of absence,
continuity of action would be broken if it were not for a definitely
approved plan.
The Forest Department has supplied the Railway, Marine, and Public Works
Department with timber of various kinds. In some cases the timber is
obtained by departmental working, and in others is cut by native
contractors under the supervision of the Department. In the first
instance, the conditions under which timber is to be supplied to other
departments are put before the Secretariat, and when once the work has
been begun, the local Forest Officer deals direct with the department
concerned.
Forestry progress in Nigeria has been less tardy than in several other
Colonies, though many forests have been destroyed owing to lapse of time
before the formation of a department. In 1904 there were eight, and
there are now twenty-four administrative appointments. The amalgamation
of Northern and Southern Nigeria into one administration should
accelerate the development of Forestry. It is as yet only in its initial
stages, and scarcely more than a thousand square miles of forests, out
of nearly a hundred thousand which exist in some form or another, have
been permanently set aside for further timber production. The revenue-
earning capacity of the Forest Department has been somewhat diminished
by the war; but with recent legislation more local revenue should be
obtained, which should more than off-set any loss already sustained.
Provided the financial position of Nigeria remains strong, the prospects
of the Forest Department are quite bright.
Although Nigeria has by far the largest Forest Department, very similar
conditions of service obtain in the other West African Colonies of the
Gold Coast and Sierra Leone; but there are no Forest Officers in the
Gambia.
VI. A REVIEW OF THE BOTANICAL FEATURES OF NORTHERN NIGERIA.
BY DR. J. M. DALZIEL.
The Northern Provinces of Nigeria exhibit in an interesting manner the
transition, now familiar in West Africa, of physical characteristics
from the tropical forest to the border region “that just divides the
desert from the sown.”
So far as the progressive stages may be stated in terms of geographical
latitude, we may place the northern limit of the forest belt at about 8°
North latitude. A convenient natural boundary in a portion of the area
under consideration may be accepted in the lower course of the Benué
River from its tributary, the Katsina River, or even as far up as Ibi,
to the Niger at Lokoja. On the other hand, the southern limit of the
desert is taken at about 17° North latitude, or higher, and thus falls
some three or more degrees beyond the northern boundary.
Between these arbitrary limits lies the greater part of Northern Nigeria
and practically the whole of Hausaland, presenting physical features
which vary through grassy plains and rolling downs, orchard-bush and
thin-crowned forest, laterite plateaux and hilly woodlands, to the
mountains of the Bauchi Highlands. The vegetative covering over a very
large area can be classed as one or other type of savannah, tree and
bush savannah, or open orchard and treeless savannah, with intermediate
grades. Local topography alters the type here and there, galleries of
evergreen vegetation occupying the intersecting belts of permanent
streams or fringing a marsh, wide meadows bordered by low forest, but
occupied entirely by grasses of few species, with scattered islets of
foliage, or, again, outcrops of bare laterite and isolated domes and
turtle-backs of crystalline rock, “inselbergs” and “kopjes,” introducing
features of their own.
The Niger Delta displays admirably the high evergreen or moist tropical
forest. This probably connects itself through the Kameruns with the
great Central African forest of French and Belgian Congo, which is again
said to be continuous through the gap between Ruwenzori and Lake Albert
with that of British East Africa.
West of the Niger Delta the coast, including Lagos, Dahomey and Togo, is
sandy, and bush rather than high forest commences almost on the shore.
Ascending the Niger, one finds that the true “rain forest” ends, but not
abruptly, in the neighbourhood of Asaba; a gradual transition occurs,
first to an intermediate type, partly evergreen with many large trees,
but mingled with those that lose their leaves in the months of little
rainfall. This change is apparent even on the river-bank, and below
Lokoja a more open but still semi-evergreen forest clothes the valleys,
but shows already more of the deciduous element on the hills. Farther
north the voyage from the mouth of the Kaduna River to the Zungeru light
railway terminus at Barijuko, as often experienced in previous years,
reveals again the progressively deciduous character of the foliage,
resulting in a still more open forest.
The river-bank, however, possessing permanent moisture and its own local
climate, is an inadequate index of the general features over the country
at large. To travel by land from Baro to Zungeru, and thence either
through Kontagora to Sokoto, or by Zaria to Kano and Gummel, is to have
the complete vision of the West African savannah in its various degrees,
and, except for local interruptions associated with considerations of
altitude or geological outcrop, etc., or with the lines of perennial
streams, to have it in its regular sequence.
Leaving out of account for the present the region south of Lokoja and of
the south bank of the Benué, which in part represents the “Zone
Guinéenne” of Chevalier, we find that the two routes suggested above
will take one through country almost entirely of the types included by
the same writer within the “Zone Soudanienne,” with an approach at
places along the Anglo-French boundary to the conditions occurring in
his “Zone Sahélienne.” It would be difficult and misleading to express
these zones definitely in terms of latitude, but one might hazard the
statement that the Guinea Zone passes to the Soudan Zone somewhere
between 8° and 10° North, and the latter extends either to the northern
boundary or verges on a drier belt beyond the latitude of 12° or 13°
North. If a complete botanical survey were possible, one could then
subdivide each belt into its different areas and provinces, with their
special floral characteristics, but at present one must be content to
indicate broadly the general composition.
The Soudan Zone, indeed, includes the greater part of Hausaland and is
representative of the typical West African savannah and savannah forest.
It merges into the drier sandy “steppe” conditions in the north and into
the mixed deciduous and semi-evergreen forests farther south. The only
giants in height are the silk-cotton-trees (_Eriodendron orientale_),
but baobabs of enormous girth are common, and the largest timber trees
are probably the Maje (_Paradaniellia Oliveri_) and the Kawo (_Afzelia
Africana_), fair specimens of the dry-zone mahogany, Madachi (_Khaya
Senegalensis_), occurring also in favourable situations.
Across the central part of Northern Nigeria, let us say from Kontagora
and South Sokoto through the whole of Zaria and South Kano to South
Bornu (but excluding the Bauchi plateau, of which I cannot speak from
personal knowledge), the plants named in the list here given might be
regarded as the average association of species, trees, shrubs and
herbaceous, the chief Natural Orders being represented as follows:
ANONACEÆ by the common wild custard apple, Gwandar daji, _Anona
Senegalensis_, a shrub.
CAPPARIDACEÆ by the Ingidido, _Cratæva Adansonii_, by shrubs or woody
undershrubs of genera _Boscia_ and _Mærua_, some thorny scramblers of
the genus _Capparis_, and the familiar weed Gasaya, _Gynandropsis
pentaphylla_.
BIXINEÆ by the Rawaya, _Cochlospermum tinctorium_, a shrub.
HYPERICINEÆ by the shrub Kaskawami, _Psorospermum Senegalense_.
OCHNACEÆ by the Namijin kade, _Lophira alata_, a tree very typical of
the region, two or three species of _Gomphia_, and a new species of
_Ochna_, a small shrub with crenulate leaves.
MALVACEÆ by numerous species of _Hibiscus_, including the cultivated
Rama (chiefly _K. cannabinus_) and Cotton, with the Ramaniya, _Urena
lobata_, and various undershrubs and suffrutescent weeds, mostly of the
genus _Sida_. The Kuka or baobab, _Adansonia digitata_, and the Rimi or
Silk-cotton Tree, _Eriodendron orientale_, marking the sites of human
habitations, past or present, are typical species of this area, as is
also the red-flowered Gurjiya, _Bombax buonopozense_ (Bombacaceæ).
STERCULIACEÆ by the Kukuki, _Sterculia tomentosa_, a tree, with which we
may place the common undershrub Hankufa, _Waltheria Americana_.
TILIACEÆ by several species of _Grewia_, the most familiar being the
Dargaza, _G. mollis_, by two or three species of _Corchorus_, edible
herbs allied to jute, and by shrubby weeds of the genus _Triumfetta_.
SIMARUBACEÆ by _Hannoa undulata_, a small-sized tree characteristic of
the region, and by _Irvingia Smithii_, a tree more abundant in the
South.
BURSERACEÆ by two species of frankincense-tree—_Boswellia Dalzielii_ and
_B. odorata_—and by _Commiphora Kerstingii_, a green-barked tree
familiar as an enclosure fence in towns.
MELIACEÆ by _Khaya Senegalensis_, the mahogany of the Soudan Zone, by
_Trichilia emetica_, and by _Pseudocedrela Kotschyii_; also by the
naturalized Kurnan nasara, _Melia Azedarach_.
OLACACEÆ by the Tsada, _Ximenia Americana_, a shrub with small yellow,
acid plums, and by the evergreen climbing shrub, _Opilia celtidifolia_.
CELASTRACEÆ typically by the shrub _Gymnosporia Senegalensis_, and less
by two or more species of woody twining _Hippocrates_.
SAPINDACEÆ by the woody twiner _Paullinia pinnata_, the 3-foliate shrub
_Schmidelia Africana_, and the world-wide twining weed _Cardiospermum
Halicacabum_.
ANACARDIACEÆ by the tree _Odina Barteri_, by other species of _Odina_ of
more local distribution, and by two species of _Anaphrenium_.
CONNARACEÆ by the abundant little shrub _Byrsocarpus coccineus_.
PROTEACEÆ by a single species of _Protea_, a shrub with large capitate
flowers, of local distribution in the Central areas.
POLYGALACEÆ by _Securidaca longipedunculata_ and the field weed
_Polygala arenaria_.
LEGUMINOSÆ by—
Larger trees: the Maji or Kadaura, _Paradaniellia Oliveri_, and the
Kawo, _Afzelia Africana_.
Medium-sized and smaller trees: _Parkia filicoidea_, _Prosopis oblonga_,
_Pterocarpus erinaceus_, _Isoberlinia doka_, _Berlinia acuminata_ in
ravines, _Tamarindus Indica_; several Acacias, e.g. _A. Sieberiana_, _A.
campylacantha_, _A. Arabica_; _Albizzia Chevalieri_, _Entada Sudanica_;
_Afrormosia laxiflora_ and _Burkea Africana_.
Small trees and shrubs: _Detarium Senegalense_, _Bauhinia reticulata_
and _B. rufescens_, _Erythrina Senegalensis_, _Lonchocarpus laxiflorus_,
_Dichrostachys nutans_, _Mimosa asperata_ on stream-banks, _Cassia
Sieberiana_, _C. Kotschyana_ and others, along with several shrubby
species of _Cassia_ and the dwarf _C. mimosoides_, _Swartzia
Madagascariensis_, _Ormocarpum bibracteatum_.
To these must be added the Zamarke, _Sesbania punctata_, and other
_spp._, and a host of herbaceous plants or half woody undershrubs,
chiefly belonging to the genera _Crotalaria_, _Indigofera_, and
_Tephrosia_, others of _Desmodium_, _Eriosema_, etc., and twiners of
_Vigna_ and _Rhynchosia_.
The chief cultivated Leguminosæ of the region are: Indigo, _Indigofera
arrecta_ and other _spp._, _Arachis hypogæa_, _Vigna sinensis_ in
numerous varieties, and _Voandzeia subterranea_.
ROSACEÆ mainly by _Parinarium curatellæfolium_, to which may be added
_P. polyandrum_ in the South and _P. macrophyllum_ in the North.
COMBRETACEÆ by several species of _Terminalia_, of which the commonest
are the Baushe (of more than one species) and the Kandari, _T.
macroptera_; more fully by a number of species of _Combretum_, which are
trees often gum-yielding, and very typically by the Marike, _Anogeissus
leiocarpus_.
MYRTACEÆ by _Eugenia Owariensis_, a tree, and _E. coronata_, a shrub.
LYTHRACEÆ by the “henna” shrub, _Lawsonia alba_, and the weed of damp
places, _Ammannia Senegalensis_.
ARALIACEÆ by an interesting species, _Cussonia Nigerica_, a small tree
of peculiar habit.
RUBIACEÆ by _Adina microcephala_, a fair-sized tree by bush streams; by
very numerous small trees and shrubs, e.g. _Crossopteryx Kotschyana_,
_Sarcocephalus Russegeri_, _Pavetta Barteri_, _Feretia canthioides_, the
_Gardenia erubescens_ and the Gauden kura, _G. ternifolia_, the Giyaiya,
_Mitragyne Africana_, typical of the islets of foliage clothing the
grassy swamps, _Morelia Senegalensis_ on stream-banks, and by more
humble but abundant species of _Oldenlandia_, _Spermacoce_, _Octodon_,
etc.
SAPOTACEÆ by the Shea Butter Tree, _Butyrospermum Parkii_, probably the
most characteristic member of the association.
EBENACEÆ by the African Ebony, _Diospyros mespiliformis_.
APOCYNACEÆ typically by the arrow-poison woody climber _Strophanthus
sarmentosus_, which is always wild, and _S. hispidus_, which is
generally planted near villages—both species called Kwankwanni; also by
the more common and inferior rubber vine, _Landolphia florida_, and
shrubs _Carissa edulis_ and _Cryptolepis Nigritiana_, the woody twiners
_Tacazzea Barteri_ and other _spp._, with numerous others.
ASCLEPIADACEÆ by the very typical giant milkweed Tumfafiya, _Calotropis
procera_, probably always in association with man, the smaller
undershrub _Asclepias lineolata_, and several suffrutescent herbs with
tuberous and sometimes edible rootstocks of the genera _Xysmalobium_ and
_Schizoglossum_.
LOGANIACEÆ by _Strychnos spinosa_, _S. alnifolia_, and _S.
triclisioides_, all shrubs or small trees.
BORAGINACEÆ by _Cordia Abyssinica_, a small tree, the undershrub
_Trichodesma Africanum_, three or four weeds of the genus
_Heliotropium_, etc.
BIGNONIACEÆ by _Stereospermum Kunthianum_, a small tree, and the
Aduruku, _Newbouldia lævis_, confined to towns and rarely more than a
tall, slender shrub; the Rahaina or Rawuya, _Kigelia Æthiopica_, occurs,
but in an interrupted distribution.
VERBENACEÆ by _Vitex Cienkowskii_, a fair-sized tree, _V. diversifolia_,
a small tree or shrub, and undershrubs such as _Lantana salvifolia_,
_Lippia Ukambensis_, and a few species of _Clerodendron_, etc.
EUPHORBIACEÆ by _Uapaca Guineense_, usually only a rather small tree in
the deciduous forest, _Bridelia ferruginea_ and _B. scleroneura_, both
shrubs, _Phyllanthus floribundus_, forming sometimes thicket-like
clumps, _P. reticulatus_, a shrub, _Flueggea microcarpa_, a white-
berried shrub, _Antidesma venosum_, and very typically by the Jan yaro,
_Hymenocardia acida_, a shrub which in these open regions has nearly
always an ochre-red bark. Numerous herbs and half-woody weeds are
common, belonging to the genus _Euphorbia_ (_E. pilulifera_, _E.
Ægyptiaca_, and congeners), _Acalypha_, _Phyllanthus_, etc., the Castor
Oil shrub (_Ricinus communis_) and the Physic Nut (_Jatropha curcas_)
are cultivated, while thoroughly representative through the whole area
are the familiar cactus-like Tinya, _Euphorbia unispina_ and _E.
Poissoni_, and the Kerana, _E. Barteri_, the latter at least never away
from habitations.
MORACEÆ by a host of species of the genus _Ficus_ (or _Urostigma_) not
yet fully elaborated botanically, e.g. Baure, Chediya, Durumi, Kauriri,
Wa, etc.
ULMACEÆ. A representative variety is _Celtis integrifolia_, a fairly
large tree.
SALICACEÆ by one species of _Salix_.
LORANTHACEÆ by seven or eight species of the parasite _Loranthus_,
called Kauchi, clothing deciduous trees with epiphytic foliage.
Orders represented mainly by flowering herbs, undershrubs, etc., are:
MENISPERMACEÆ by the popular medicinal twiner Jibda kassa, _Cissampelos
Pareira_.
NYMPHEACEÆ by at least four species of Bada or water-lily, _Nymphæa_.
PAPAVERACEÆ by the Yellow Poppy, _Argemone Mexicana_.
CARYOPHYLLACEÆ by species of _Polycarpæa_ characteristic of the dry
zone.
GERANIACEÆ by the familiar weed _Biophytum sensitivum_.
DROSERACEÆ by the widely distributed Sun-dew, _Drosera indica_.
AMPELIDEÆ by numerous vines of the genera _Vitis_, _Cissus_, and
_Ampelocissus_, of which perhaps the most striking are Dodoriya, _Vitis
quadrangularis_, and Dafara, _Vitis pallida_, while wild vines with
edible berries called Tsiberi kinkini are generally of one or other
species of _Ampelocissus_.
CUCURBITACEÆ by the familiar cultivated Kabeova or pumpkin, _Cucurbita
Pepo_, and Duma, the bottle-gourd, _Lagenaria vulgaris_, with its
endless varieties, the Guna or water-melon, _Citrullus vulgaris_, and by
many wild and half-wild species, e.g. the Balsam Apple, _Momordica
balsamina_, the Loofah gourd, _Luffa Ægyptiaca_ and _L. acutangula_,
_Cucumis prophetarum_, and one or more species of tuberous-rooted
_Trochomeria_.
FICOIDEÆ by common succulent weeds, e.g. _Trianthema monogyna_, _T.
pentandra_, and _Gisekia pharnaceoides_, and by species of _Mollugo_ in
river-beds, etc.
COMPOSITÆ by some weeds of cosmopolitan distribution, e.g. _Ageratum
conyzoides_, _Eclipta alba_, etc., and by very numerous herbs and
suffrutescent plants, amongst which the genus _Vernonia_ is the most
abundantly represented, including one typical of the region, viz. _V.
nigritiana_, with several species of _Aspillia_, _Coreopsis_, etc., and
the chewstick shrub, _Vernonia amygdalina_.
MELASTOMACEÆ by a few species of _Dissotis_ and _Osbeckia_.
CAMPANULACEÆ by a common little blue-flowered weed, _Cephalostigma
Perrottetii_, and a water herb, _Sphenoclea Zeylanica_.
HYDROPHYLLACEÆ by three or more species of _Hydrolea_, e.g. _H.
Guineensis_, etc.
LENTIBULACEÆ by ten or more species of _Utricularia_.
CONVOLVULACEÆ, a conspicuous order, well represented by numerous species
of _Ipomæa_, a few of _Merremia_, and a few erect undershrubs of the
genus _Astrochlæna_, to which one may add the little blue-flowered weed
_Evolvulus alsinoides_, of wide distribution in the world.
SOLANACEÆ by the “Thorn Apple,” _Datura Metel_, by numerous species of
_Solanum_, some edible, e.g. the several cultivated varieties of the
native bitter tomato, Gauta, varieties of _S. Melongena_; others
poisonous, e.g. Gautan kura, _Solanum incanum_, and others; also by two
common weeds of the genus _Physalis_, and the popular herb simple,
Dandana, _Schwenkia Americana_.
SCROPHULARIACEÆ by _Scoparia dulcis_, of world-wide distribution, and by
several parasitic species of _Striga_, of which the most familiar is the
Makasar adwa, _S. Senegalensis_. Besides numerous humble weeds of
cosmopolitan genera, e.g. _Moniera_, _Ilysanthes_, etc., mostly
occurring in damp places, two or three species of _Sopubia_ may be taken
as characteristic of the bush-lands.
ACANTHACEÆ by a variety of weeds, etc., of the genera _Blepharis_,
_Monechma_, _Justicia_, etc., to which the following may be added as
characteristic of the Order in Hausaland: _Nelsonia campestris_, a soft
herb of slightly acid taste, _Peristrophe bicalyculata_, an occasional
fodder plant, and _Dyschoriste Perrottetii_, the mucilaginous seeds of
which are used to remove spicules from the eye.
PEDALIACEÆ by the locally cultivated Ridi, _Sesamum Indicum_, and other
wild species of _Sesamum_, by the weed _Ceratotheca sesamoides_, and by
the half-shrubby _Rogeria adenophylla_.
LABIATÆ by several cultivated tubers, such as the Tumuku and Risga, by
odorous species of _Ocimum_ and _Æolanthus_, e.g. the Dodoya, _Ocimum
Americanum_, the weed _Acrocephalus polytrichus_, and by many common
herbs of various other genera.
AMARANTHACEÆ by the native spinage, Alayafu, _Amaranthus caudatus_, the
Zaki banza, _A. viridis_, a wild species sometimes cultivated, and by
several of the common weeds found in other countries—_Celosia argentea_,
_Pupalia lappacea_, etc.
THYMELÆACEÆ by the poisonous Tururibi, _Lasiosyphon Kraussii_, a yellow-
flowered, low, suffruticose plant with a woody rootstock, and by two of
three species of _Gnidia_.
ARISTOLOCHIACEÆ by the twiner _Aristolochia albida_.
LAURACEÆ by the leafless twiner _Cassytha Guineensis_.
The Monocotyledonous Orders may be said to be represented as follows:
HYDROCHARITACEÆ by the yellow-flowered aquatic herbs _Ottelia
lancifolia_ and _Boottia Abyssinica_.
ORCHIDACEÆ by a fair number of tuberous terrestrial orchids, of which
_Lissochilus arenarius_ is the most typical, several _Habenarias_ and
_Eulophias_, and a very few epiphytes, e.g. _Ansellia Congoensis_.
SCITAMINEÆ abundantly by _Kœmpferia Æthiopica_ in open woods, _Costus
afer_ in shady ravines, and Fitta, the food-wrapper leaf, _Clinogyne
filipes_, in streams, etc.
IRIDACEÆ by several species of _Gladiolus_, e.g. _G. quartinianus_, and
of _Tritonia_.
AMARYLLIDACEÆ by _Crinum yuccæflorum_, the red-flowered _Hæmanthus
rupestris_, _Pancratium trianthum_, and _Curculigo Gallabatensis_.
TACCACEÆ by the tuberous _Tacca involucrata_.
DIOSCOREACEÆ by _Dioscorea prehensilis_ and other cultivated yams,
chiefly in the South or on pagan hills, and by some species which are
either wild or escapes.
LILIACEÆ by several species of _Urginea_, e.g. _U. Nigritiana_, _U.
Indica_, etc., by other bulbous species of the genera _Anthericum_,
_Dipcadi_, etc., by the climbing lily, _Gloriosa superba_, several
species of _Chlorophytum_, _Aloe Barteri_, and by prickly scramblers
such as _Asparagus Pauli-Guilelmi_, _Smilax Kraussiana_, etc.
ALISMATACEÆ by some flowering water-plants, e.g. _Burnatia enneandra_,
_Lophotocarpus Guyanensis_, etc.
COMMELINACEÆ by various species of _Aneilema_—_A. lanceolatum_, _A.
Sinicum_, etc., of _Commelyna_—_C. nudiflora_, _C. umbellata_, etc., and
of _Floscopa_ and _Cyanotis_.
PALMÆ by the Giginya, _Borassus flabellifer_, var. _Æthiopum_, the
Goriba, _Hyphæne Thebaica_, chiefly in the North, and the Tukuruwa or
Bamboo Palm, _Raphia vinifera_, in ravines only.
AROIDEÆ by _Culcasia scandens_, by the Kinchia with yellow rhizome,
_Stylochiton Dalzielii_, _Amorphophallus Barteri_ and _A.
dracontioides_, _Anchomanes Dalzielii_, and other species.
CYPERACEÆ by very numerous species of _Cyperus_, e.g. the edible Aya,
_C. esculentus_, and the uncultivated Aya aya, _C. rotundus_, _C.
Fenzelianus_, etc., and several of _Pycreus_, _Fimbristylis_,
_Kyllingia_, _Bulbostylis_, etc.
GRAMINEÆ by the predominant tribe, _Andropogoneæ_, with numerous other
genera—_Eragrostis_, _Aristida_, _Digitaria_, _Pennisetum_, _Chloris_,
etc., and by a single locally distributed bamboo, _Oxytenanthera
Abyssinica_. The chief cereal is Guinea Corn, Dawa, _Sorghum vulgare_;
both species of sugar-cane, Rake, _Saccharum officinarum_, and Takanda,
_Sorghum vulgare_, var. _saccharatum_, are cultivated.
The FILICES are poorly represented by the widely distributed Adder’s
Tongue, _Ophioglossum vulgatum_, the water-fern, _Cratopteris
Thalictroides_, by _Adiantum lunulatum_, _A. Schweinfurthii_, and a few
species of _Nephrodium asplenium_, etc., by no means typical of the
region.
Having thus given a bird’s-eye view of the floral composition in the
central region of Hausaland, one may proceed to examine the variations
revealed in passing south to the semi-evergreen forests and north to the
drier open savannahs.
Southwards the transition is gradual, and nowhere abrupt, from forest
savannah with annual bush-fires and consequent tendency to revert to
grass, to forests in which the number of species is greater and the
deciduous element is more mingled with evergreens, either by the
persistence of species which in a drier region are deciduous, but retain
their foliage where the increased rainfall allows of this variation, or
by the appearance of species which always possess the evergreen habit.
_Bombax buonopozense_ is an example of the former and probably also
_Afzelia Africana_ and several others.
Some of the added constituents either absent from or more rare in the
area of lesser rainfall are:
ANONACEÆ: _Xylopia parviflora_, _Hexalobus Senegalensis_, _Popowia
Mannii_.
CAPPARIDACEÆ: _Ritchiea sp._, _Capparis viminea_, etc.
BIXINEÆ: _Oncoba spinosa_.
STERCULIACEÆ: _Cola laurifolia_.
RUTACEÆ: the Fasa kwari, _Zanthoxylum Senegalense_.
MELIACEÆ: _Trichilia retusa_.
ANACARDIACEÆ: _Spondias lutea_, _Hæmatostaphis Barteri_, and the
cultivated mango.
SAPINDACEÆ: _Blighia sapida_.
CONNARACEÆ: scrambling shrubs, e.g. species of _Agelæa_ and _Cnestis_.
[Illustration: FIG. 38.—=Marsh or “Fadama,” with islets of foliage,
Benué overflow, near Yola.=]
[Illustration: FIG. 39.—=The Lower Niger in flood.=]
[Illustration: FIG. 40.—=Fringing Forest on River Benué in the rainy
season.=]
To face p. 196.
LEGUMINOSÆ: _Tetrapleura Thonningii_, _Piptadenia Africana_,
_Erythrophlœum Guineense_, _Cynometra Vogelii_, _Pterocarpus
esculentus_, _Dialium Guineense_, _Millettia sp._ near _M. Sanagana_ and
other species of _Millettia_, _Cordyla Africana_, _Berlinia Heudelotii_,
_Cæsalpinia Bonducella_, _Lonchocarpus cyanescens_, _Baphia pubescens_
and _B. nitida_.
ROSACEÆ: _Parinarium subcordatum_.
COMBRETACEÆ: several species of scarlet-flowered _Combretum_ of climbing
habit—_C. racemosum_, _C. constrictum_, etc.
MYRTACEÆ: _Napoleona Vogelii_.
RUBIACEÆ: _Morinda citrifolia_, _Cuviera acutiflora_, _Canthium
Vanguerioides_, _Ixora radiata_, _Uncaria Africana_, _Oxyanthus
unilocularis_, some species of _Mussænda_, etc.
RHIZOPHORACEÆ: _Weihea Africana_.
SAPOTACEÆ: _Mimusops sp._
APOCYNACEÆ: _Voacanga obtusa_ and _V. Africana_, _Landolphia Owariensis_
and other _spp._, _Carpodinus hirsuta_, _Pleioceras Barteri_, and the
tree Wadda, _Rauwolfia sp._ near _R. Welwitschii_.
LOGANIACEÆ: _Anthocleista Vogelii_.
CONVOLVULACEÆ: _Calonyction speciosum_, _Merremia umbellata_, etc.
BIGNONIACEÆ: _Spathodea campanulata_.
ACANTHACEÆ: _Acanthus montanus_, _Asystasia Coromandeliana_, etc.