The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1911-03-10

lands across the gulf, and this may
we'll be. An immense amount Of 1t is
so far from the coast and from any
present means Of transportation that
it practically Is valueless to the owner
of the land, so he views the waste OF
1t with comparative Indifference.
True mahogany is the only species
of the Swietenia mahogani, and Is dis
tinctly a native of tropical America,
but occasionally small specimens have
been found in southern Florida, and
a similar tree, never reaching the
height of the American relative, how
ever, has been located in India This
swietenta has been planted IN south
ern Florida, southern California and
parts of Mexico, but only as an orna-
mental tree, however, because it is OF
such slow growth and requires for full
maturity such natural surroundings,
that for commercial purposes 1t would
seem impossible of cultivation. 1t is
giant among even the giants OF trop-
ical forest 1t towers sometimes to
height of 100 feet The trunk alone
is often so feet in length and II feet IN
diameter, and 1t divides into so many
huge arms and throws the shade Of Its
shining green leaves over so vast an
extent Of surface that more magnif1-
cent or more useful object is not to be
met with in the vegetable world. The
precise period of its growth Is not ac-
curately known, but as, when large, 1t
changes little during the life of man,
the time of it's arriving at maturity Is
probably not less than 200 years. The
name "Swietenia" was given to mahog-
any in honor Of the celebrated Baron
Won Swieten. physician to Maria Their
esa. The early Spanish called the tree
"Cedrela," a species not unlike the
mahogany in many respects, and found
also in about the same natural sur
roundings, but the English mistook
that name for cedar, applying 1t direct
ly to mahogany, the result being that
Spanish cedar is a term still heard
occasionally or read without true un-
derstanding in ancient books of travel
and discovery along the Spanish Main.
Only the best and biggest logs are
exported; the smaller ones and the
remnants of the sawed timber are uti
lized as ordinary lumber on the spot
for the construction of houses or the
decoration of small vessels, so that
in the tropics there can still be seen
the solid mahogany furniture which
originally made the wood SO famous.
London Is the mahogany center of
the world Here prices are set and
the character of wood decided. Beauty
of grain is, of course, the chief char
acteristic, and that which at once
ranks it above other woods either for
constructive or decorative purposes;
allied to beauty is figure or pattern
and when the two are combined, ma
hogany then becomes supreme. Sheets
of mahogany Of wonderful thtnness
can be cut from the parent log, with
very little loss.
Selling mahogany logs by auction Is
still the habit in vogue in the great
center-Lo London-of the trade, Gus
tom inherited from generations of buy
ing and selling. To these principal
markets In England merchants come
from every direction, for the pick Of
the forests can always be found there.
In fact, the best class of logs from
tropical America are carried first to
England, many of them sold to manu-
facturers in the United States, to be
finally imported through the Atlantic
seaboard, thus having Travelled twice
across the ocean in their journey from
the forest to the factory.
1t is gratifying to know that there
ia no wholesale destruction of the ma.
hogany forests. The young timber has
to be preserved. At one time 1t was
the law that no tree should be cut
which squared less than Is inches
quite a large tree, as one will notice
hut that has become rather a dead let
ter and trees smaller than this are
cut every day. Still there is some eff
fort to preserve the timber, and even
to do an appreciable amount Of refor-
estation The trees are of very slow
growth, many of the large trees, it is
said, bearing evidence of being at least
! 900 years old, and when there is care,
lesness or greed In cutting, it means
much to the future of the mahogany
business.