22 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



abundant in the province of Camaguey. The wood of ocuje macho is of 

 a light brown color, tinged with red or yellow. It is slightly coarser- 

 grained than mahogany and does not exhibit any annual rings of 

 growth. The wood takes an excellent polish and the alternating lines of 

 lighter and darker shades on the radial surface giv3 it considerable 

 figure. Although the wood is cross-grained, it works well, and does not 

 split or cheek during seasoning. It is hard, heavy Cabout forty-six 

 pounds per cubic foot), strong, tough, and bears exposure to moisture 

 and lasts well in water. It is used for construction work, ship-building, 

 and heavy machine work ; for posts, furniture, felloes of wheels, in- 

 terior finish and largely for shingles, especially in the West Indies; in 

 Mexico it is used more extensively for furniture. Ocuje macho is sold 

 in the Havana markets for $160 per thousand feet. 



Spanish cedar (Cedrela odorata) is one of the best known trees in 

 Cuba and next to mahogany is the most important kind. It is locally 

 called cedro, because the leaves and wood of this trer have an odor 

 similar to the true cedar of southern Europe (Juniperus sabina). 



While Spanish cedar is commonly distributed throiighout tropical 

 America, it appears to reach its greatest development in the rich val- 

 leys and fertile mountain slopes of Cuba, where it attains the height of 

 nearly one hundred feet and often five feet in diameter. The logs 

 frequently contain from 3,000 to 5,000 board feet; tne average run 

 where 15-inch logs are included is about 700 board feet. Spanish 

 cedar yields the well-known "cigar-box cedar" and is used largely for 

 making cigar boxes, cabinet work, interior finish of houses and for 

 purposes requiring a durable wood. It is made into all kinds of 

 furniture, and is much admired for its rather close grain and beautiful 

 color, resembling true mahogany. In Havana the wood of the largest 

 and best trees sells for $100 to $150 per thousand board feet. 



Sabicu (Lysiloma sabicu) is the wood of a leguminous tree, which 

 grows to the height of from sixty to eighty feet and sometimes from 

 five to seven feet in diameter. The wood was first introduced in Eng- 

 land but it is now becoming known in this country and is highly 

 esteemed as a substitute for the true mahogany, which is now very 

 scarce in the accessible parts of the island. The wood is very hard, 

 rather heavy, strong, tough, and is very much liked for veneering and 

 finishing work. It is dark chestnut brown and resembles true mahog- 

 any. Sabicu is usually free from shakes, and while it seasons very 

 slowly it does not cheek during the process. On account of its dura- 

 bility when exposed to an alternation of air and water, it is used for 

 boat building and also for house building and general carpentry. The 

 wood is now being exploited extensively in the province of Santiago de 

 Cuba, where the best hardwoods are found. 



Logwood (llaeniatoxylon campechiamum) is a tree which often 

 reaches a height of from fifty to sixty feet and about a foot in diame- 

 ter. While the tree is native to Cuba, it does not grow very abundantly 

 naturally, but it has been planted and in parts of the island has been 

 cut for export. The best logwood is said to come from Jamaica, 

 Santo Domingo, and Yucatan. 



Mahogany (Swictenia mdhagoni) is one of the best known woods in 

 the western hemisphere, when it is taken into account that its natural 

 geographic distribution is restricted to tropical America, very little 

 being obtained in northern part of Colombia and Venezuela. The 

 wood from Cuba is known as Spanish mahogany in order to distinguish 

 it from that derived from Mexico and other parts of the mainland. 

 The mahogany now obtained in Cuba, while of good quality, is not so 

 acceptable as that from Mexico, on account of the sniall size. It is 

 very rare in parts of the islands, and the material consists largely 

 of such logs as were not accepted by former exploiters of mahogany. 

 It has the reputation of being harder, darker and more figured than 

 that from any other locality within its range of growth. The figured 

 or bird 's-eye mahogany sometimes brings as high as $400 or $500 

 per thousand. A good deal of the mahogany obtained in Cuba is sold 

 for less than $50 per thousand feet in New Orleans and Mobile. 



Managua azul (Paritium elaium) is one of the most important trees 

 in Cuba, not so much on account of the wood, but because the inner 

 bark of this tree yields exceedingly tough fiber used by the Cubans for 

 many purposes. The wood is of a deep greenish blue color, from which 

 it derives its name. The tree grows in moist woods and is particularly 

 abundant in the province of Camaguey, where it is often found on the 



well drained ridges. The best timber as to strength and elasticity, is 

 produced on dry rocky soil. The wood is used for boal building, car- 

 riage making, furniture, and gunstocks. It is in demand in the Havana 

 market, but shipments are received in this country and sold for from 

 $100 to $150 per thousand feet. 



Yava (Andira inermis), also known as angelin, cabbage wood, or 

 bastard cabbage, is very common in the reddish soils throughout 

 southern Cuba. It is a rather large tree, ranging from forty to sixty 

 feet in height and from three to five feet in diameter. The wood varies 

 very much in color, which has led to the belief that there are several 

 species. The wood is hard, heavy (about fifty-eight pounds per cubic 

 foot), strong, tough, very durable, both in and out of water. It is 

 suitable for pile and bridge timber and is used extensively in ship 

 construction, especially for keel, rudders, and planking, and for fram- 

 ing houses, mill rollers and naves of wheels. It is used also for mak- 

 ing walking sticks, umbrella handles and in turnery. 



West Indian or green ebony (Brya ebenus) is a well-known timber 

 tree common throughout tropical America. It is net a true ebony, 

 but belongs to the same family of plants as our black locust. The 

 tree is from twenty to thirty feet in height and seldom a foot in diam- 

 eter. The heartwood is nearly black and is often used for the same 

 purpose as the true ebony. It is very hard, heavy, strong, and is 

 used for making handles of tools, walking sticks, and fine cabinet 

 work. The wood is also called granadillo in the market. 



Eoyal palm (Oreodoxa regia) is perhaps the most striking of all the 

 trees in Cuba. It is found in all parts of the island. It rises to the 

 height of from sixty to eighty feet and has a perfectly straight trunk, 

 which is often from twelve to eighteen inches in diameter. Every part 

 of this palm is utilized by the Cubans. The timber, which has many 

 uses, is not exported, except in a small way for making walking sticks. 

 The basal parts of the leaves are very valuable for wrapping the 

 tobacco for shipment. 



Wooden Houses in Europe 



Wood holds its own in parts of Europe where timber is much scarcer 

 and of higher price than in America. This is true particularly of 

 house building in rural communities. The special measures taken by 

 the Swedish government in recent years to promote the increase of 

 small holdings and the widespread use of timber in the construction 

 of houses and farm buildings in Sweden attracted attention suffi- 

 ciently in England the past year to cause the sending of a committee 

 to Scandinavia to study the subject at first hand. The committee's 

 report brings out some interesting points regarding the universal 

 use of timber for constructive purposes in Scandinavia. The com- 

 mittee found, what is often a surprise to visitors to a country where 

 timber is a natural product, that house construction in wood is not 

 appreciably cheaper than brick, even in Sweden. Outside the large 

 towns first-class houses constructed entirely of wood are in great 

 favor, and in many cases afford striking architectural studies, which 

 the sylvan surroundings invariably blend into a charming picture. 

 Indeed, Swedish experience affords valuable evidence of the durability 

 of good timber construction, and Swedish architects say that timber 

 buildings may be relied upon to last fully fifty years. 



Comparatively little trouble seems to be experienced from dry rot 

 or insects. This is largely accounted for by the fact that timber 

 buildings are always well elevated on a stone or other foundation, 

 which permits of free circulation of the air, and in most cases the 

 ground is dug out over the whole or part of the site to form a 

 cellar. Further, Stockholm tar is frequently used as a preservative. 

 The report includes instructive particulars in the form of specifica- 

 tions and priced schedule of quantities for the construction of timber 

 houses and stone and timber farm buildings for a typical Swedish 

 small holding. 



The subject of wooden houses in England is being investigated along 

 other lines. A writer in one of the London papers has been digging 

 among old records in Ireland and finds that framed houses were dis- 

 patched with immigrants from London in 1613 and erected in the 

 Diamond at Londonderry and in the Diamond at Colcraine for occupa- 

 tion by the English settlers. Some of these houses were in existence 

 and tenanted up to about 1850. 



