Owing  to  the  absence  of  a  hard  winter  all  the  trees  are
evergreen.  Large  areas  of  forest  seem  to  have  been
destroyed  by  the  natives  in  earlier  times  in  order  to
secure  fertile  soil  for  cultivation  and  richer  pasture
for  their  flocks  in  these  well- watered  regions ;  but  there
is  now  in  the  Union,  as  in  the  other  colonies,  a  Forestry
Department  of  the  Government,  which  controls  the
felling  of  timber  and  makes  new  plantations  where
desirable.  In  Natal,  which  has  a  very  similar  climate
to  that  of  South-East  Australia,  the  "  blue  gum  "
species  of  Eucalyptus  has  been  introduced  from  the


178  UNION   OF   SOUTH   AFRICA

latter  country,  and  will  in  time  supply  valuable
timber.
The  largest  remaining  forests  are  now  between
Mossel  Bay  and  Port  Elizabeth,  extending  some  fifteen
miles  inland  from  the  coast,  and  north  and  east  of
King  William's  Town.     The  principal  useful  trees  are  :

(1)  Stinkwood,  which  has  an  unpleasant  odour  when
newly  cut,  but  which  is  used  in  building  and  for
making  the  famous  Cape  carts  or  bullock  waggons;

(2)  Yellcw-wood,  a  sort  of  pine,  used  for  floors  of
houses  and  for  waggon  building,  and  (3)  Sneezewood,
which,  owing  to  its  water-resisting  properties,  is  very
useful  for  making  piers,  jetties,  bridges  and  fences.
Boxwood  and  iro7iwood  grow  in  some  parts,  and  the
Cape  peninsula  has  small  cedars,  pines  and  oaks.
In  Natal  there  are  considerable  plantations  of
acacia  or  wattle,  especially  in  the  midland  districts.
The  bark  of  these  trees  is  useful  in  tanning,  and  it  is
exported  in  large  and  increasing  quantities  each  year.
Insufficient  rainfall  and  long  droughts  prevent  the
growth  of  timber  in  the  Orange  Free  State  and  over
most  of  the  Transvaal,  but  there  are  forests  along
the  banks  of  the  Limpopo.
