The suburban citizen., 1900-08-25
.lrrIMc Ia MAHooANY TREEs.
Experienced Woodsmen Alone Can Find
Suitable Timber For Market.

experienced woodsmen Alone Can Find
Suitable Timber For Market.
The mahogany hunter is the most Inn
,ortdnt and best-paid laborer in the
service, for upon his skill and activity
argely depends the success Of the sea-
son. Mahogany trees do not grow in
clusters, but are scattered promiscu-
ously through the forests and hidden
ma dense growth of underbrush,
vines and creepers, and 1t requires an
experienced and slsillful wOodman to
ind them, says q writer in Self-Cul-
lure. No progress can be made in
ropical forest without the aid of a ma
ehete, for the way must be cut step by
step. The mahogany is one Of the
largest and tallest Of trees, and the
hunter, seeking the highest ground,
climbs to the top Of the tallest tree
and surveys the surrounding country.
His practiced eye soon detects the ma
hogany by its peculiar foliage and he
counts the trees within the range of
his vision notes the directions and dis
tances and then descending cuts a mar
row trail to each tree, which he care
fully blazes and marks, especially If
there be a rival hunter in the vicinity.
The aXmen follow the hunter, and af-
ter them come the sawyers and
.hewers.
TO fell large mahogany tree is one
days task for two men. On account of
the wide spurs which project from the
trunk at the base scaffolds must be
erected, ana the tree cut off above the
spurs, which leaves stump from ten
10 fifteen feet in height--a sheer waste
Of the very best part of the tree, and
one which American ingenuity would
certainly devise some means to pre-
vent While the work Of telling and
hewing is in progress other gangs are
busy making roads and bridges over
which the logs may be hauled to the
river. One wide truck pass" as it is
called, is made through the centre Of
the district occupied by the works, and
branch roads are opened from this
main avenue to each tree The trucks
employed are clumsy and antiquated
affairs, which no American would
think Of using. The aXles and boxes
are imported from England, while the
other parts are made upon the ground.
The wheels are Of solid wood, made
by saving off the ends of q log, and
fitting iron boxes in the centre, no
spokes or tires being used. New wheels
are in constant requisition, and repairs
cause frequent and expensive delays.
Most Of the tracking is done at night
by torchlights Of pitch pine. The oxen
are fed on the leaves and twigs Of the
breadnut tree, which gives them more
strength and power Of endurance than
any other obtainable food. The truck
ing being done in the dry season, the
logs are collected on the bank of the
river and made ready for the floods.
On the longest rivers these begin in
June and July, and on others in Octo-
Der and November The logs are
turned adrift and when they reach tide
water are caught by means Of booms.
indian loggers, usually Carlbs, follow
the logs down the river in order to re-
lease those which are caught by obsta-
2les. No little judgment and eXpe-
rience is required to determine at what
exact stages of the food the logs should
be set adrift. Should the water rise to
what is called "topgallant food" before
the logs reach the boom many of them
would be carried over the banks and
left high and dry in cane breaks and
thickets or covered up by sand and
rubbish. From the boom the logs are
rated to the embarcadero and "manu-
Cactured" for shipment.