SOUTH AMERICAN FOREST RESOURCES 



297 



There are constantly growing fears that if the present 

 methods of cutting quebracho forests are not modified and 

 measures adopted for their regrowth, there will be little 

 left of them in a very short time. The same is true of 

 greenheart and mahogany, of Spanish cedar and Parana 

 pine, and of other valuable species. Chili produces several 

 varieties of oak of high quality, as well as valuable conifers, 

 but the area is too small to be considered when looking for 

 a timber supply to meet the demands of the world market. 

 The Amazon basin, which embraces the territory occu- 

 pied by the tropical rain forests, is contrasted rather 

 sharply with the other timbered areas of the continent, 

 however. While their product may not be able to meet 

 even the local demand, the tropical rain forest areas 

 stand practically imtouched by ax or other instrument of 

 destruction. Until recent years, when medical science 

 robbed this tropical wilderness of its most deadly weapons, 

 man has been forced to avoid it. Now, with his newly- 

 gained advantage, he can work his will there and the wealth 



supplied by the forests of North America. The woods are, 

 in the main, soft or of medium hardness, and are suitable 

 to replace pine for construction, oak for finish and fur- 

 niture, liickory for wheels and handles, and ash for agri- 

 cultural implements. From the standpoint of the lum- 



A SAMPLE OF MAHOGANY CUT AT THE SAN PABLO PLANTATION, 



MEXICO 

 There are three principal varieties of mahogany trees: the Central American, or 

 true mahogany {Swietenia mahogarti) ; the African mahogany {Khaya senegalensis), 

 and the Indian mahogany {Soyrttida Jebrifiiga) . The true mahogany grows in 

 Cuba, Florida Keys, Dominican Republic and Haiti, various islands of the 

 West Indies, Mexico, Central America, and to some extent in Peru and Ecuador. 



stored for centuries in the most beautiful and most wonder- 

 ful forests in the world becomes available for use. 



Here are a few facts with regard to the forests of the 

 Amazon basin which show how well able this vast area is 

 to replenish the world's dwindling supply of lumber. One 

 million six hundred thousand square miles of densely 

 wooded land make this the largest forest area in the 

 world. It is three times larger than the forested area of 

 the United States and exceeds by two hundred and sixty 

 thousand square miles that of European and Asiatic 

 Russia combined. The stands run from ten to twenty 

 thousand board feet to the acre and are made up of species 

 practically like those now in use and in most cases better 

 adapted to the uses to which they will be put than those 



THE LINGUE TREE 



The Lingue tree (Persea tingue Nees) is a species of laurel tree which grows 

 between 32° and 41° S. latitude. It is large and its bark is extensively used in 

 tanning hides in Valdivia and neighboring regions. Its wood is very durable, 

 resists decay from water, is beautifully grained and varies from a light yellow 

 to red in color. It is used in making high grade furniture and other cabinet work. 



berman, these forests are ideal. The land is level and is 

 crossed by numerous streams, making short hauls to float- 

 able water the rule. Commercial diameters run between 

 two and three feet and clear lengths fifty feet or more. 

 The total height of an average tree is well over one hundred 

 feet. The rapid growth rate of these trees makes the 

 value of the temperate forest shrink into insignificance 

 when compared with the producing power of an equal area 

 of tropical forest. For every dollar of wealth produced by 

 a temperate forest, the tropical forest should yield not less 

 than ten. It is possible to plant and harvest not one but 

 many forest crops in a lifetime with a higher return per 

 acre for each than the single crop of the forester in Europe 

 or the United States. The climate brings forestry 

 nearer to the level of an agricultural crop than anywhere 

 else. Firewood can be grown in from three to five years; 

 pulpwood, posts, and piles in ten to fifteen; and mer- 

 chantable timber in fifteen to twenty-five years. 



It has long been the popular conception that tropical 

 forests are only capable of producing woods chiefly valu- 



