Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1911-03-17


well be. An immense amount of It 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
It with comparative indifference.
True mahogany is the only species
Of the Swietenia mahogani, and is dis
tinctly 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
swietenia has been planted in south
ern Florida, southern California and
parts of Mexico, but only as an orna-
mental tree, however, because 1t is of
such slow growth and requires for full
maturity such natural surroundings,
that for commercial purposes II would
seem impossible of cultivation. It is
giant among even the giants OF trop-
ical forest. II towers sometimes to a
height of 100 feet. The trunk alone
is often so feet in length and II feet In
diameter. and it divides into so many
huge arms and throws the shade of it's
shining green leaves over so vast an
extent Of surface that more magnifi-
cent or more useful object is not to be
met with in the vegetable world. The
precise period of its growth is not ac-
curutely known, but as. when large. 1t
changes little during the life of man.
the time of its arriving at maturity is
probably not less than 200 years. The
name "Swietenia' was given 90 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 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
of the sawed timber are uti-
liked 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
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 1t above other woods either for
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 thinness
can be cut from the parent log. with
very little loss.
Selling mahogany logs by auction is
still the habit in vogue I'm the great |
the trade, a 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-
lecturers 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
IS no wholesale destruction of the ma
nogany forests. The young timber has
10 be preserved. At one time It was
The law that no tree should be cut
which squared less than IS inches
1uite a large tree, as one will notice
but that has become rather dead let
.er, and trees smaller than this are
tut every day. Still there is some ef-
'ort to preserve the timber. and even
o do an appreciable amount Of refor-
sstation. 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
esness or greed In cutting, It means
much to the future OF the mahogany
business.