A FOREST SCENE IN EASTERN CEYLON 



POOR TREES IN MIXTURE WITH VALUABLE SPECIES 



carriages, and in some parts of the East is used in house-buUding. 

 This tree is also found in the West Indies, and the wood is imported 

 into this country for special uses. It is becoming scarce in tropical 

 America, and the future source of supply may come principally from 

 the East. 



Blue wood or niahoe (Paritium iiliaceum) is a tree that grows in 

 all tropical countries and produces the mahoe of commerce in the 

 West Indies; in the trade in this country it is often called blue wood, 

 for it is one of the few blue woods of the world. In Ceylon, where 

 timber is abundant, this wood is used chiefly for fences, but in the 

 West Indies it is highly esteemed, and usually brings a fancy price 

 where it can be brought to the market. In Cuba the best mahoe in 

 the accessible regions has been cut. The wood is hard, heavy, and 

 very strong. It is used chietly for making fancy furniture, as it 

 -takes a fine polish, which it retains. The inner bark yields a very 

 valuable fiber. 



Bastard cedar {Guazuma tomentosa) is a tree which is also native 

 of the tropical America, where it is called West Indian elm. The 

 wood is rather coarse-grained, but is much used in making furniture 

 in Ceylon and India. In the West Indies this wood is used in house- 

 building and for making farm implements, because the wood is very 

 durable. 



Wild orange wood (Mitrraya exotica) is a small tree, but produces 

 the toughest wood of Ceylon. The sapwood is thick and nearly orange 

 colored, and the heartwood is dark brown, often turning nearly black. 

 The sapwood is the portion which will perhaps claim the attention of 

 the timber trade in a small way, as a substitute for the true orange 

 wood for making tooth picks, manicuring sticks, walking sticks, and 

 backs of brushes, etc. The wood is abundant also in the Philippine 

 Islands and may soon find its way into the American markets. 



Poon (Calophyllum inophyllum) is abundant in other parts of the 

 East. It is mentioned here because it is one of the woods which 

 ■occasionally enter our markets, as a mahogany substitute. A closely 

 allied species (C. tomentosum) , found chiefly in the interior forests, 

 produces a gigantic tree and very beautiful wood that is highly 

 esteemed by the cabinet maker. The wood is hard, reddish, tough, 

 strong, and is much used for the arms of outriggers and ship 's 

 blocks. 



Loonvomidella is the Cingalese name applied to a tree (Melia com- 

 posita) closely related to our chinaberry tree. It is a quick-growing 

 tree, yielding a reddish-brown or orange-eolored wood. It is close 

 and even-grained, light (about forty-five pounds per cubic foot), 

 somewhat soft, but takes a very good polish, and is very durable. It 

 is used extensively for tea boxes, house-building and furniture making. 



The CaralUa integerrima is the botanical name of a tree closely 

 related to our mangrove and is one of the most common trees of 

 Ceylon, especially on the West coast, where it is planted in the cin- 

 namon gardens. The wood is of a i-eddish color, very ornamental, 

 being prettily marked with lighter wavy lines; it is tough, but is said 

 not to be durable. It is, however, much used for furniture, fittings, 

 ■etc. The wood is of such a distinct character in its light-colored 



wavy lines, that it would no doubt make a suitable substitute for a 

 good many of the cabinet woods now in use in this country. 



Siris (Accacia Jehbelc) is a large tree widely distributed through- 

 out the tropics. It is found in the West Indies and its wood is occa- 

 sionally shipped into this country. The heartwood is very hard, of a 

 dark-brown color, mottled, with deeper colored longitudinal streaks. 

 It is very durable, seasons and works well, and takes a good polish, 

 and is used for furniture, picture frames, building purposes, naves of 

 wheels, pestles, mortars, sugar-cane crushers and boats. 



The ebony forms the bulk of the timber trade of Ceylon. There 

 are a great many species, all of which are more or less important. 

 In the trade practically aU of the species of Biospyros are known as 

 ebony. The principal ones are following: 



Diospyros embryopteris. In Ceylon this tree is converted into masts 

 and the native considers it the best sort of aU jungle wood for that 

 purpose. It is also used for house building. 



P. eordifolia yields a hard, hea^-y wood with a dark-brown color, 

 very strong, but dilEcult to work. 



D. sylvatica has a whitish wood used for fancy work. 



D. toposia is a middle-sized tree chiefly in the damp forests. The 

 wood is used for fancy cabinet work. 



D. quesita produces the most valuable of the timber known as 

 calamander wood, so much esteemed for ornamental cabinet work. 



D. eieniim is the tree which produces the wood originally shipped to 

 England as ebony. There are many other species of this extensive 

 genus which yield a hard, black wood, known under comprehensive 

 trade name, ebony. 



From sifting the subject of sawdust and wood flour it looks like we 

 are going to develop some trade in various lines for this waste 

 product. 



If there were no ups and downs in the lumber trade, the business 

 would be too dull and uninteresting to long engage a man of brains. 



Sometimes there may be more good material in a crooked log than 

 in a crooked man — and easier to realize upon. 



The good listener gains more knowledge as he goes along than the 

 glib talker, and more friends, too. 



The right kind of compensation laws are good things for the 

 employer as well as the employe, and they are cheaper to follow and 

 work by than this matter of fighting with lawyers. 



"By-products" is getting to be a sort of by -word that means a 

 whole lot more than it used to to the lumbering fraternity. 



The smooth-running tongue has its uses, but it is not an universal 

 substitute for a well-ordered brain. 



At times consistency looks more like a fickle jade than a rare jeweL 

 For instance, while lumbermen are naturally fighting for the shingle 

 and opposing the extension of city fire limits, there are not only 

 many of them who live under other roofs than shingles from prefer- 

 ence, and many mills covered with other roofing, but some millmen 

 are using steel and concrete instead of lumber for their own construc- 

 tion. 



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