Posted on October 25, by tourism marketer The origin of SA Forest Investments is intimately linked to the fortunes of the gold mining industry in the Sabie and Pilgrims Rest areas. Underground mining required timber supports, initially obtained from the indigenous forests, but it was obvious that this source of timber was being exhausted and a start was made with the planting of trees.
After a short interview with the man; he was appointed in the new post. A prominent wattle grower, McKenzie from Dalton, drew up a report on tree planting for the farms Elandsdrift, Hendriksdal and Klipplaat. He considered the climatic conditions and nature of the soil well suited for growing wattle and eucalypts. He outlined the method by which the ground should be prepared by ploughing to a depth of 10 to 15 cm and harrowing it to a loose tilth.
Seed of black wattle was to be hand sown in rows 1m apart and rows 3,6 m apart. At the age of ten years the tree-would produce marketable tannin bark, and poles suitable for mining purposes. A hectare was expected to yield 8 to 12 tons of tannin bark and 40 tons of wood depending on depth and nature of soil. After the directors decided to proceed with the project, Glaeser was instructed to start afforestation on Elandsdrift farm, ha in extent.
They were not interested in the forestry project. His work progressed satisfactorily. He had enough labour and implements, and duly completed planting ha by the end of the first year. In , the trees had reached the stage of yielding a return in tannin, bark and mining poles. He was instructed to visit leading wattle growers in Natal to acquire up-to-date knowledge of plant and machinery for processing the bark. Orders were placed with AF Poole for machinery and Merryweathers for specially built wagons for transport.
The bark had a high tannin content and found a ready sale to tanning factories in Port Elizabeth, Salt River, Silverton, and on the export market in Durban. Following the wattle-growing programme, a large commercial timber scheme was launched in with the planting of pines.
