Vol. XVn. No. 431. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



347 



THE TIMBER INDUSTRY OF BRITISH 

 GUIANA. 



A pamphlet, prepared by tlie Honorary Secretary of the 

 Permanent Exhibitions Committee of British Guiana, and 

 recently issued by that Committee, contains much useful and 

 interesting information with regard to the forest industries of 

 that colony. 



The forests of British Guiana cover some 78,000 sq. 

 miles of country, or about si,x-sevenths of the whole area of 

 the colony. The utilization however of the practically 

 illimitable forest resources of the colony is checked by great 

 difficulties of transportation. Although British Guiana 

 possesses considerable facilities m waterways, much of the 

 most valuable timber, having a higher specific gravity than 

 water, cannot be transported over such obstacles as cataracts 

 and rapids. 



The trees composing the forests of British Guiana are 

 rarely of social habit. Many different kinds of trees exist in 

 any one area, and the forests are of the class termed 'mixed'. 

 The forests vary in height. On the low coastlands and along 

 the tidal reaches of the rivers the average height of the trees 

 would be about 60 to 70 feet, but further inland they are, on 

 {he average, about 100 feef in height. As a rule, the trees 

 in the high forests rise with straight, clean stems, and are 

 of small girth proportionately. 



The following industries are carried on at present in 

 connexion with the forests of the colony: Wood cutting 

 for (a) timber and lumber, (b) wallaba ishingles, paling and 

 vat staves, and posts, (c) charcoal, (d) firewood. 



(Tfeenheart {Nectrandra Ri/dioci) is commercially the 

 best known of all the timbers of the colony. Large quan- 

 tities have been regularly exported for many years. ( )n 

 account of its resistance to the action of water and boring 

 molluscs, it is chiefly used for submerged work such as 

 wharves, piles, dock and lock gates. There are two varieties 

 of this wood, the brown or yellow greenheart, and the black 

 variety which is much scarcer. Logs of greenheart can be 

 obtained from 10 to 2-5 inches square, and up to ti5 feet 

 in length. 



In habit the greenheart is partly gregarious. The green- 

 heart areas are estimated to contain an average of thirty-two 

 trees to the acre, and are almost entirely confined to the 

 central parts of the colony. There is a large quantity of this 

 wood in the interior waiting easier- rtieans of transport for 

 exploitation. " ' 



Another w(jod which is exported in considerable quali- 

 ties is the crabwood (Canipa ,i;ui:i>iensts), of which there ate 

 also two varieties, the red and the white. The former is a 

 red-coloured wood, with a moderately'coarse and open grain, 

 and is locally the most popular furniture wood. It resembles 

 mahogany in appearance when polished. The white is simi- 

 lar in structure to the red variety, but paler in colour. Logs 

 of crabwood can be obtained ftom 40 to HO feet long, and 

 from 10 to 16 inches siiuare. 



The most abundant of the colony's timbers are the sev- 

 eral varieties of wallaba. Those piincipally used are 'soft 

 wallaba' (Epfnta Jalcata), and Ituri wallaba {Eperiia 

 lenmiini). The heartwood of these varieties is in great 

 demand for posts, and for making shingles, etc. Wallaba 

 is a heavy hardwood, with a very coarse, but more or less 

 even grain. It splits readily, and is very resinous. It has 

 been favourably reported on iis a material for wood-block 

 paving. 



In addition to the abovementioned woods there are 

 many other valuable timbers of which at times some are 

 exported in small quantities. Oi these we may mention 



the woodot the locust tree (Bymenaea Cour/.anT), and the 

 bullet tree {Mimusopi frMmu). which latter, however, is 

 only now cut by permission for special purposes, thu tree 

 being the source of balata. - ^ f • 



There is a considerable charcoal-burning industry on the 

 Demerara and Berbiee Rivers. All kinds of wood and all 

 parts of the trees are used for the purpose, and are on verted 

 into charcoal by being burnt in covered pits dug in the sand. 

 Ihe charcoal is largely exported to the southern West Indian 

 islands. 



On the river lands all kinds of wood are cut for fuel, but 

 wallaba is mostly favoured, as it splits readily and barns well 

 1 radically all the firewood exporteo is from ths lower 

 Demerara River, whence it can be transported cheaply for 

 shipping to Barbados and other West Indian islands. 



In normal years the colony of British Guiana exports 

 about 280,000 cubic feet of timber, 250,000 feet of lumber 

 2.300,000 wallaba .shingles, 4,000 tons of charcoal, and 

 i),000 tons of firewood. 



Besides these timber exports there are— apart from the 

 considerable collection of balata, which amounted in 1917 to 

 1,595, 8S8ft). of the value of £198.871— exports of certain 

 gums, oils, resins, etc. Gum animi, the product of the locust 

 tree is exported in small quantities. This gum in its fossil 

 state resembles amber in appearance, and is often found in 

 blocks of considerable size. Hiawa gum, or 'resin of coninia' 

 use.l for incense, is obtained from Protium luft,xphvllum, a 

 common tree in the colony 



Among other forest products which are collected and 

 exported are Tonkin beans, which are borne on the Kuinara 

 or Tonkia bean tree (nipUryx odorata)—A. large tre^ growing 

 plentifully in the region above the rapids of the Essequebo 

 River— and Souari or butter nuts, the product of Canviar 

 totnentosum. This is one of the giants of the forest. Under 

 cultivation at Ondernecming Experiment Station, trees of 

 this species have fruited in six years from planting. 



It is very evident from the foregoing, that the forests of 

 British Guiana possess vast potentialities, only limited by 

 lack of transport facilities, labour, and capital. 



HYGIENE IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOLS OF 

 ST. LUCIA. 



In his annual report on the Educatioji Department of 

 St. Lucia, Mr. T. H. K. .Moulder, the Inspector of Schools of 

 the colony, states that hy^iiene is taught regularly throughout 

 all the juvenile schools of the colony. Although many of the 

 children are unfamiliar with the terms 'malaria' and 'hook- 

 worm,' the majority of them do know that mosquitoes pro- 

 duce fever, and that neglect to wash hands and feet when 

 they are muddy may give them hookworm Jlr. Moulder is 

 satisfied with the progress which is being made in the 

 knowledge of this subject in the upper standards of the 

 primary schools. 



He says that the fo lowing summary of staUraents in 

 the reports sent to him by the head teachers, is interesting 

 to note: 'The applications for quinine, both by .-hildren and 

 parents, are beginning to *how that they are convinced of its 

 etft ctiveness as a specific for malaria: despite the ia.<te, the 

 children now take quinine more easily, in the hojie of being 

 cured. Children do not indulge in playing in the earth as 

 they used to do, and coine to school with tbeir hair properly 

 combed, and their faces, hands, and feet well washed. Theo- 

 ry and practice are getting more closely associated, especial- 

 ly when it is seen that the habits of cleanliness mean the 

 avoidance of disease.' 



