The new South-news., 1905-06-24

snops-Cruce Logging Meshcas
Used BY the k,sivsx.
An occasional CORES poadest OF the
New York Tribune al Manila. Philip
pine Islands writes. Despite the fac
that there are some ;. zoe. 900 acres
of timber lands In The Philippine a..
clipelago. there is a scarcity OF ''mer-
chantabIe" timber In the Islands. anu
millions of feet OF American Or anc
spruce are annually imported for the
use OF the lnsulsr Sos.rnmen, snc
private contractors.
There are millions OF acres Of for
est lands In the island OF Luzon alone
capable of yielding lumber as good
and as suitable as that imported from
America. but there Is no one to place
L on the market. the small amount OF
timber now being cut consisting
chiefly of hard aad veneer woods.
which are exported In the log 10 sup
ply the demands Of China and other
Oriental countries.
lac a'u4l...-ln ..lace Tar Company
who imported shipment Of Philip
pine logs. have announced that the
hard woods OF the islands are the best
that have ever entered their works;
the Chinese and British governments
are using Philippine timber in the
important engineering works now go
ins on IN CAina: German planes, VITA
sohd. .aS lead OF 'Nsneered. cases made
of Philippine woods are being ass cm-
hled in hong-Kong and Singapore.
ana placed Oh SAFE throughout Ia,
Orient, there j. a constant market for
the higher classes OF hard woods IN
TIE Caited States and great demand
| Tor lumber Tor building aud c0nstrGc
tion purposes in the Philippines, and,
despite all these opportunities. there
Il no legitimate exploitation Of the
forests OF the Philippines. and the
American lumberman l. reaping the
profits resulting from these peculiar
conditions.
There are two principal reasons for
this anomalous state of affairs, name
ly;
FlIcl-At llS httih'iihk u '"N
American administration in the Philip
pines forestry laws were enacted
which proved TO BE- so restricted In
their scope AS to preclude even lcSi-
innate development Of the timber
lanes by large corporations.
Second-The denseness of the trop-
ical forests. the extreme weight OF the
majority of the timer, the lack o.
suitable labor, and the difficulties OF
transportation, make any but large
operations precarious investments.
For the man OF large capital or the
strong corporation the lumber indus
try 10 the Philippines presents almost
unlimited possibilities. There are
probably $4,000 900 acres of forest
lands which formerly belonged to
Spain, and are now the property ol
the United States. The defective
laws have been 80 remodisd as to al
loxelarge corporate holdings. and
thefs are markets at hand to absorb
all possible production for years to
come. -
The principal foreign m5f'kete--fstsss
the hard and yeneering woods Of the
Philippines is China, whose immen se
southern lowlands ire devoid OF tim
Der. The rapid growth iu the build
ing and kindred traies in the Philip
pines will furnish market 'or Other
grades of lumber, az well as for the
firewood which will result from The
saving OF the unmerchantable lum
ber.
There are many species OF furni
be mentioned. ebano ebony, nara
philippine mahogany. undals. can
aogn and guijo. There are alsc
eleven varieties OF oak, cedar il
abundance, teak and many new va
rieties awaiting investigation IL
bring out their value.
The annual growth OF the Philip
pine forests is estimated at 1900
600 feet. or nearly three times The
yearly cut OF lumber in the United
States At the present time more
than SO per cent OF this annua
| growth - going TO waste from lack o'
systematic exploitation.
| In Luzon. where the population
J averages seventy-eight to the square
mile, there is no timber near the cen
ters OF population In the northern
| end OF the island. in the province.
OF Cayagan and Isabela. there remain
at least 1000 900 acres of valuable
forests. The entire eastern coast o.
Luzon Is practically a virgin forest
in North 6estern Luzon but littls
merchantable timber Is left. except
upon the mountain sides above 3400t
feet. where a species OF pine tPipul
insularis) dourishes. all ages betnl
mingled together. The maximau
growth is nearly four feet in dian Y
ter and more than 100 feet nigh.
In the south ~ es<ern GLANDS, e&
tending from Mindoro through ParI
qua, q more sparsely settled resio1
IL found where the forest has beer
untouched. In this group are more
! than O0V, ,0oJ acre. OF timber land
extending from the waters edge 10
the SUBMITS Of the mountains.
The island OF Mirdanao, with An
area of more than 23.OVo. 900 acres
/ is almost entirely covered by forest
Very little timber has be~n cut
owing TO r.le scarcity Ok labor and
the distance 10 market. The vast
majority Of the population Of this
island Is found In coast towns al
though a large POPULATION OF Aoros