The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-09-15
VALUABLE PHILIPPINE WOODS

A great deal has been heard but
| little known on this side of the world
of the rare and beautiful hard woods
of the Philippine Islands and some
of the stories told may have suggested
that the imagination had not been neg
1ected, but a practical demonstration
that these stories were founded on fact
may be found in the offices of Cen
era1 Frank Mcintyre, Chief of the Blu
reau of Insular Affairs, where there
has just been received from the ISL
ands enough furniture to furnish two
office rooms. Many persons have call
osfty and have critically examined this
furniture in admiration that could not
be suppressed.
About a year ago, as the story goes,
il occurred to the Insular Bureau,
which has charge of the affairs of civ
il government in the Philippines and
Porto Rico as well as of the affairs
of the customs receivership of Santo
Domingo, that it would be a good idea
to have in Washington, for the in
spection of visitors and others inter-
ested in our far away islands an ex-
hfbit of one of their valuable reeour-
ces. This idea prompted the thought
that the exhibit might be made useful
as well as ornamental and it was
therefore decided to have made in the
Philippine Islands, out of the native
hardWoods and by native workn1en,
enough furniture for the rooms in the
War Department building occupied by
the Chief of the Bureau Of Insular At
fairs to show the possibilities as well
2 g a hH91IfifJI7 onI0 ND IN, off -
Philippine hardwoods.
The Governor General of the ISL
ands was consulted and gave his
prompt and hearty approved and the
action necessary to put the thought
into effect was taken at once Draw
ings and specifications as to the di-
mansions and style, were prepared in
Washington and forwarded to Manila,
and officials regard it as a compliment
to the American instruction as well as
the native mechanical deterity that
these drawings and speci1ca tions were
followed down to the minutest detail
and nothing added or omitted. The
furniture was shipped half way around
the world and has :;1st recently arEiv-
ed in exceptionally good condition.
It is made of red nara, or Philippine
mahogany, and is of light c1Aret color
shading to slightly darker, has a nat
ural finish with a high polish, and is
strikinlx1y grained.
AS a relic Of Spanish times all the
woods in the Philippines are divided
by law into four groups. The group
ing has been slightly changed since
American occupation but 1T still fairly
represents the preference of timber US
ers. Nara is always placed in the
first, or highest, group in the CLASH
fcation of the woods of the islands
and is of a singularly rich and beauti-
full color.
: Nara. is among the very highest pric-
ed woods because of its beautiful color,
durability and adaptabiIity. The Phil
ippines produce harder and better
woods for exterior work but they do not
furnish anything superior for inter-
ior decoration or furniture. The wood
of nara is moderately heavy, moder-
ately hard very dura bic, and is sell
dom, if ever, attacked by the anay
(white anti It seasons well when
properly treated and takes a, fine fin
ish The heartwood of nara, is white,
yellow or red, and the sapwood nearly
white. The grain is rather fine, but
irregular, and very beautiful when
quarter sawn. Nara is used princi-
paI1y for fine furniture. cabinet max
ing and interior house trim. The prov
inces of Cagayan, Mindoro. Tayabas,
Albay, Isabella and Sorsogon lead in
the production Of nara.
Nara is divided commercially into
two varieties, called Red and Yellow.
So far as is known, this division is
not a specific one, but difference
due to the habitat in which the tree
grows. Both species have the red and
yellow varieties The red grows in
the hi1ly country, near the streams
generally, and the yellow is found in
the flats near the sea coast.
Slabs are obtained from the buttres-
ses of nara, from which large one
piece table tops are made. These are
sometimes feet and over in dame
ter Nara wood is often finished in
it's natural color and sometimes stain
ed brown or dark red.
This class of wood, formerly very
popular for pianos and high grade fur
niture is becoming very scarce on this
side of the world and is much Initial
ed by stains or veneers. 1t is not
generally known that there is almost
an inexhaustible supply under the jur-
isdiction of this government on which
no import duty need be paid.
It has been estimated that there are
as high 40000,0o0 acres of public
forest lands in the Philippine Islands.
The Director of Forestry says in a re-
port:
In recent visit to the southern ISL
ands of this group was impressed
with the amount of timber standing |
on the smal1eS islands; frequently the
was such that 1t could be
exploited with facility. 1 saw tracts
of virgin forest where more than 49, |
900 cubic feet of magnificent timber
per acre was standing; trees $50 feet
in height with trunks clear of branch |
es for 80 feet. There are many mil
lions of cubic feet of timber in these |
forests that should be cut in order to |
properly thin out the dense growth; |
for instance, where there are three or
four trees growing on q space required
for one, that one so freed would put |
on more good wood each year than the
four together.
It is safe to state that the number of
native tree species found will be near
er 500 than 45o, a great majority Of
these undoubtedly being hard woods.
The edges of the great forests have
been scarcely cut away and so valuable |
hard woods given to the world the full