296 



AMERICAN FORESTRY' 



tina. They occup}- the great semi-arid plain lying 

 between the foothills of the Andes and the Parana 

 and Paraguay Rivers and known as the Great Chaco. 

 Other representatives of the type are the Catinga 

 forests of Brazil and the Coast forests of Colombia and 

 Venezuela between Cartagena and the Island of Trinidad. 



The temper- 

 ate forests are 

 found along the 

 slopes of the 

 Andes where 

 elevation and 

 moisture, com- 

 bined with suit- 

 able soils, make 

 the growth of 

 a temperate 

 forest possible. 

 This type is 

 best developed 

 in Patagonia 

 and comes prac- 

 tically to sea 

 level in Tierra 

 del Fuego. 

 These forests 

 are of Antarctic 

 beech with a 

 few conifers 

 inter mi xed. 

 Three species 

 of beech would 

 probably fur- 

 nish ninety per 

 cent of the 

 cut . Although 

 heavy stands 

 are reported in 

 the Patagonian 

 Lake region, 

 the forests are 

 over-mature 

 and so defec- 

 tive as to be of 

 little commer- 

 cial value. The 

 trees reach 

 heights of one 

 hundred to one 

 hundred twen- 

 ty-five feet and 

 are two to five 

 feet in diameter. The extension of this type along the 

 Andes from Chili to Colombia can only be estimated. 

 The great populations that have for thousands of years 

 occupied this region drew on these forests for fuel 

 and construction timber and only second-growth or 

 scattered patches remain. 



The swamp forests are made up of the typical man- 

 grove area of tidal swamps and the forests of the fresh- 

 water swamp and bottom lands. The mangrove areas are 



VIEW NEAR USHUAIA, ARGENTINA 



The temperate forests of South America extend down into what was once generally known as Patagonia and 

 come practically to sea level in Tierra del Fuego. Here in the far south the trees are rather stunted and deformed 

 by the winds, but in the mountains to the north and along the shore of the Patagonian lakes tlicy reach a splendid 

 development and heavy stands arc reported. These forests are of Antarctic beech and a few conifers. 



Hmited in extent and have been partially destroyed, but 

 the fresh-water forests occupy large areas and promise to 

 be of commercial importance in the near future. They 

 are irregular in age, often ver}^ open and growth is ex- 

 tremely rapid. The species common in this type are in 

 the main soft -wooded, as soft or softer than our own Cot- 

 tonwood, bass- 

 wood, or yellow 

 ji o p 1 a r , and 

 man}- with but 

 little color. 

 T hey reach 

 heights of over 

 one hundred 

 feet in the best 

 soils; probably 

 sixty to seventy 

 feet is the aver- 

 age, with diam- 

 eters of two to 

 three feet com- 

 mon. Certain 

 of these spe- 

 cies reach this 

 height in ten 

 to fifteen years 

 and commercial 

 diameters in 

 much the same 

 lime. The dom- 

 inant stand 

 of any given 

 region is gener- 

 ally made up of 

 a very few spe- 

 cies. In many 

 cases four or 

 five varieties 

 will furnish 

 seventy-five 

 jj c r cent or 

 more of the 

 comme r ci al 

 timber and will 

 yield eight to 

 ten thousand 

 feet to the acre. 

 These three 

 types of forest 

 cover the 

 greater part of 

 the continent 

 only the northern half of Brazil with small por- 

 tions of Colombia, Peni, and Bolivia being in the 

 tropical rain forests. .Allliough there arc heavy stands 

 of timber in these three immense areas, the supply has 

 l)cen jjartially exhausted, is too soft for commercial needs, 

 or is overmature, with the result that the limit of con- 

 sumption is visible. Most of them arc in a condition 

 similar to that of the forests of North America and Europe, 

 although not so badly depleted by ruthless exploitation. 



