The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-14

finest known, Is much In demand, bring
Ing from s25 to $40 a ton, the extra quality
$lJ. And there are many other woods which
would be valuable II only brought to mar
ket
For example, Cuba contains thirty-two
species of palm, including the Yarez palm,
whose leaves are used for the manufac-
ture OF hats and baskets. The articles so
made are exported IN considerable guam
THY TO Europe, where they fetch a good
price. The fiber, If not so phable as that
of the Panama hats. is more durable. The
bark of another palm, the palma real, Is
used for boards. The boards are very
hard and Withstand moisture far better
inan the best yellow pine. The palma real
Is almost the only material used by the
small farmers IN building their houses.
They employ the bark boards for the
walls and the leaves for roofing.
'"rhe Cuban ebony should have a large
sale some day. The acana. of which there
are two varieties, is used in the island
for rafters. It is very durable ana will
last for many years even il exposed to
wet. The sabine cimarona resembles ce-
dar, but Is more solid. IL Is easily worked.
The roble blanco and robe amarillo are
also easily worked. They are used for
window and door frames, and for carriage
and shipbuilding From it's durability the
latter Is known as eternal wood.
The jiqui Ia extremely hard, and Is espe-
cally suitable for posts on account of its
durability. The quebra hacha has the
same qualities. The granadillo Ia a pecu-
iiarly beautiful cabinet wood. The caimi-
tillo Is elastic and very strong, and 10
used for rafters, carriage shafts and bar
rel hoops. The guiana de costa IL also
strong and elastic, and In addition Ii is
practically waterproof. The yaya, maboa
and cuero make good rafters, while the
jagua Is suitable for gun stocks, and the
cuya for posts particularly under water.
THE Jigue has great resisting properties.
as has the majagua, as well as durability.
From the bark of the latter ropes can be
made as good almost as those OF manila
hemp. They used to be used all over the
Island, but they are very dear owing 10
their being made by hand.
LAS proof of the usefulness Of the Cuban
forest trees il may be said that house
can be built without the use Of a single
nail, and strong enough to stand up
against any wind. The beams and rafters
are tied together with several species of
Llama, which are found In abundance In
the woods. Another interesting product of
the Cuban forest is the watervine. II
grows from two and half to three inches
in diameter, and when cut yields large
quantity Of pure fresh water. There are
also considerable quantities Of dye woods,
while the supply of copal, rosin and tur-
pentlne in the forests Of Pinar del Rio is
simply unlimited
1.-THE chief difficulty with which the Gu
ban lumber Industry has had to contend
hitherto Is lack of transportation facili-
ties Yet this is a difficulty which should
be easily got over, for the shape OF the
island is such that no point is far distant
from the coast, while the latter has shell
tered nlets every few miles The transport
tation Of the wood ought to be q very small
matter, II you remember that 1t Is consid-
cred profitable In the United States to con-
vey lumber many hundreds of miles to the
nearest river. But l have no doubt that
this viii all be rectifed once the Spaniards
are out.