The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-12-11
ON A MAHOGANY RANCH
HOW THE VALUABLE WOOD
IS CUT

And strIpped-ObGained In Mexico,
Cuba, Central America, San Domino
60, south America and Afriea-Many
Millions of Feet Used.
Mahogany is probably more popular
and extensively used than any other
high-class cabinet wood. 1t is to be
seen in the interior finish of nearly all
our modern office buildings, private
residences railway coaches, in pianos,
furniture, musical instruments, etc. 1t
is purely tropical wood. 1t is obtain
ed in Mexico, Cuba, San Domingo,
Central America, South America and
Africa. Cuba is, as rule, close-grain-
ed and darker in color than other va
rieties of the wood. While Africa pro-
duces some of the finest specimens Of
mahogany timber as to size, it is in
ferior in texture and lacks some quail
ties at highgrade wood.
While there are many millions of
feet of this beautiful and durable wood
used annually in this country, not one
in a thousand knows just where it
comes from and how it is obtained, nor
one in million who has seen it in its
full maturity standing in its native
fastnesses-the true king of the tropi-
cal forest, sublime in it's grandeur,
veritable giant among pignies, in many
instances so vine-laden as to appear in
a gigantic physical contest for suprem-
Of tho ayhoToa1 world
its enormous branches clothed with
bright green foliage and so far-reach-
ing as to overshadow much Of the sur
rounding forest, challenging its lesser
rivals to compete with it in beauty,
symmetry and strength.
Mahogany is found on very fertile
land, generally of rolling nature and
well drained. 1t does not grow in
swampy or sterile land. The timber
cut for export ranges in diameter from
eighteen inches to six feet, the greater
part being hewed square by the ma
tives, many of whom are very expert
axmen. Great care is taken in the
Telling to avoid splitting. After fell
ing the trunk is cleared of vines and
other clinging Vegetation and made
ready for hewing. Immense blocks are
knocked off, one of which would give
enough for mahogany to make an or
binary dining table. These large pieces
are rarely utilized.
The reason for squaring these logs is
to secure the maximum of heart tim
Der. With all the care taken there is
still waste of fully Is per cent. of the
best heart wood, which in the many
millions of feet exported amounts an
nually to an enormous loss to the pro-
Queer. Within a few years this waste
full system will be a thing Of the past.
Getting the timber to the streams,
where it can be floated to a shipping
point, is the most expensive and ar
duous part of the work and as timber
becomes scarcer the longer is the haul
ing distance. Transportation from
forest to stream is done at night by
means of trained oxen, light being OBJ
tanned by means of torches. The work
is done at night on account of the
swarms of flies and other insects that
torture the animals by day. The num-
Der of oxen employed in this work va
ries according to the size of the log and
the kind of roads to be Travelled. Some
logs require as many as twenty-five
woke of oxen. To diminish friction
saplings about four inches in diameter
are felled, cut into four-foot lengths
annd laid transversely on the road at
distances of a few feet.
Because of the mahogany tree being
top-heavy, nature has provided it with
braces, or what are known to the tim
Der men as spurs, which on large tim
Der project from the base of the tree
often a distance of fifteen feet, reach
ing deeply into the earth These braces
much resemble in form a. ships rudder.
They are used in Mexico for round ia
BILE tops and cart wheels, there being
many that make table tops six feet in
diameter, the grain running in all d.
rections
In Mexico, as In some other mahog-
any-producing countries, this timber
has been depleted from the forests
along nearly all of the streams deer
enough to float the logs, but there still
remains an immense supply lying some
distance from these highways that can
be marketed at profit only by the in
vestment of large capital in logging
railways and other modern methods
This is now being done by several
strong companies Of Chicago, Pennsyl-
vania and Iowa, that have purchased
large tracts of timber lands in the
state of Campeche, ranging from $780,
900 to 100000 acres each.-ChicagC
Chronicle.