The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1905-06-21
PHILIPPINE FORESTS.
Fifty Million Acres of Valuable
Timber Lands Idle.
AN IMMENSE ANNUAL GROWTH.

p%ortunities For Wealthy Corpora
tions-Little Timber Now Being Cut
Consists Chiefly Of Hard Woods.
Despite the fact that there are some
C1,OOo.OOO acres Of timber lands in the
Philippine archipelago, there is a scar
city Of "merchantable' lumber In the
islands, and millions of feet Of Ameri-
can FIR and spruce are annually import
ell for the use Of the insular govern
ment and private contractors. says a
Manila correspondent of the New York
Tribune.
There are millions Of acres Of forest
lands in the island Of Luzon alone ca
pablo of yielding lumber as good and
us suitable as that imported from
America. but there is no IL to place
it on the market. the small amount of
timber now being cut consisting chief
~ of hard and veneer woods. which
are exported in the log to supply the
demands of China and other oriental
countries.
The Pullman Palace Car company,
which imported Il shipment Of Philip
pine logs. has announced that the hard
woods Of the islands are the best that
have even entered their works; the Chi
ne>o and British governments are us
ing Philippine timber in the important
engineering works now going Oh in
China: German pianos with solid in
stead of vencereu eases made of Phil
ippine woods are being assembled in
Hongkong and Singapore and placed
on sale throughout the orient; there is
a constant market for the higher class
es OF hard woods in the United States
and Il great demand for lumber for
building and construction purposes in
the Philippines, and despite all these
opportunities there Is no legitimate ex-
ploitation Of the forests Of the Philip
pines. ana the American lumberman is
reaping the profits resulting from these
peculiar conditions. There are two
principal reasons for this anomalous
state Of affairs. namely:
First, ut the beginning Of the Ameri-
can administration in the Philippines
forestry laws We're enacted which
proved to be so restricted in their
scope as to preclude even a legitimate
development Of the timber lands by
large corporations; second, the dense
ness Of the tropical forests, the ex-
IRENE weight Of the majority Of the
timber, the lack of suitable labor and
the difficulties Of transportation make
any but large operations %precarious in
vestments.
For the nan of large capital or the
strong corporation the lumber industry
in the Philippines presents almost un-
limited possibilities. There are proba-
bly, 45.OOO.0OO acres Of forest lands
which formerly belonged to Spain and
are now the property of the United
States. The defective laws have been
SO rcmedied as to allow large corporate
holdings, and there are markets ut
hand to absorb all possible production
for years to come.
h principal foreign market for the
hard and %vencering woods Of the Phil
ippines Is China, whose immense south
ern loWlands are devoid Of timber. The
rapid growth in the building and kin
dred trades in the Philippines will fur
nish Il market for other grades of lum-
Der as we'll rs for the firewood which
Will result from the saving Of the un-
m~erchantable lumber.
There are many species Of furniture
and veneer woods, of which maj be
mentioned ehano (ebonyl. nara phil
ippine mahogany, tindals. camagon
and guijO. There are also eleven varie-
ties of oak. cedar in abundance, teak
and many new varieties awaiting in
~vest!gation to bring ont their value.
The annua! growth Of the Philippine
forests Is estimated ut 1900, OOO, 900
feet. or nearly three times the yearly
cut of lumber in the United States.
At tn" present time more than 90 per
cent Of this annual growth is going to
waste from lack Of systematic eXploita-
ton. In Lu"on. where the population
averages Sev"nty-right to the square
mile, Their" is no timber "a the cen
tiers Of population. In the northern
end of the island, in the provinces Of
Cagayan and Isabella, there remain at
least o.Wn.OOO Hcrcs Of valuable for
ests. The entire eastern coast of Lu-
o is practically Il virgin forest. In
northwestern Luzon but little mer-
charitable timber is left, except upon
the mountain sides above 5000 feet,
where Il species of pine Uinus insu-
lariS, llourishes, all ages being mingled
together. The maximum growth is
nearly four feet in diameter and more
than 100 feet high.
In the southwestern islands, extend
ing from Min0oro through Paragua, Il
more >parscly settled region is found
whore the forest has been untouched.
In this group are more than 100000
acres Of timber land, extending from
the waters edge to the SUBMITS Of the
mountains. The island of Mindanao.
with an area Of more than 23,OOO,OOO
acre.. is almost entirely covered by
forest. Very little timber has been
cut, owing to the scarcity Of labor and
the distance to market. At least TO-