Omaha daily bee., 1920-03-08
Mahogany and HON. 1t Gro,Os |
From the Music Trade Review.

There is no such thing as 4 forest of ma
hogany, the wood that has been OF SO much iiii-
portance in the making of certain musical in.
struments. The pine tree loves its own kind
and never thrives better than when planted by
nature or by man one tree next to the other,
over mile after mile of plain or mountain.
Other trees are found in groves or clumps,
seeming to form little settlements within the
woods. The mahogany tiee, however, lives by
and for itself alone. It stands solitary OF its
species, surrounded by the smaller trees and
dense underground of the tropical forest, rear
ing its head high above all 1t is giant among
even the giants Of tropical forest. II towers
sometimes to height Of one hundred feet The
diameter, and it divides into huge arms and
throws its shade over vast extent OF surface
The precise period Of growth is not accurately
known, but when large it changes little during
the life of a man, the time of its arriving at ma
turity being estimated at 200 years.
for mahogany "fnds." More frequently, per-
haps, only one tree will be found over larger
stretch of territory, and one instance is on rec
ord where company, after getting concession
to cut the timber within an area of 40 square
miles, found only so trees, an average OF less
than one tree to 400 acres. Elevation, too, is
an important factor in the trees value 1t pre-
fers low-lying, moist, rich, almost swampy land
Good specimens have been found as high as
1,5OO feet in Jamaica, where much of the wood
came from and where it was so ruthlessly de-
stroyed. As rule, however, it clings to the
coast or the edges Of rivers that have no great
fall from their source to their entrance into the
sea. While transportation is not complicated
by the problem of moving the giant logs down
the mountain, the advantage is overcome by the
fact that passage through the tropic jungle is
costly and difficult.
The mahogany tree is most abundant and
found to the greatest perfection between lati-
tudes II degrees and 23 degrees 10 minutes
north. Within these parallels lie Jamaica, Cuba,
the Dominican and Haitian republics, parts of
Colombia and Venezuela,, all of Central Amer.
ica, in which is included the mahogany areas of
Honduras, and the lower part of Mexico The
mahogany found nearer the equator than the
limits given is not usually of such fine quality
as that found within this beltt Exception may
be made to small areas in Panama and to the
more recently exploited sources of supply in
Africa. Very fine timber has been exported
from Nigeria within recent years, especially
since the almost denudation of the older sources
in the West Indies, but even Nigeria lies north
of the equator, and, to that extent at least, fol-
lows the rule. 1t is therefore curious fact that
very little mahogany is found growing south
of the equatorial line, although climate and e1e-
vation may in many places seem to be quite
suited to it.
The mahogany trees of the tropical forests
are being slowly, but none the less surely, cut
down. No effort is made to preserve the timber
lands or to foster the growth of the younger
trees. The waste in stumpage and in tops is
enormous, and the demand increases constantly.