August 10, 1922 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



35 



Panama Mahogany Is Like Other South American Wood 



of Same Family 



By C D. Mell 



When Panama mahogany logs are offered in the New York 

 markets dealers generally hesitate bidding on stocks to arrive. 

 This reluctance is based on the fact that a number of the parcels 

 of logs that were shipped in the past from Panama to New York 

 as mahogany, were found to consist of some other kinds of woods, 

 such as mangrove, maria or espave, not one of which has a market 

 value in the States. A number of small shipments of espave logs 

 in particular reached New^ York under the trade name of Panama 

 mahogany. After repeated efforts on the part of some Panaman 

 shippers to introduce these little-known woods as mahogany, 

 certain dealers refused to consider anything that w^as being offered 

 from Panama under this comprehensive designation, going on the 

 assumption that the logs offered were not genuine mahogany. 



During recent years, and particularly during the war, the trade 

 has been shown, however, that the forests of Panama do contain 

 true mahogany, which is equal in quality to that from other 

 Central American countries. A number of parcels of very fine 

 logs have reached the markets here as well as in England, but 

 in spite of these arrivals of logs of true mahogany from Panama 

 there are those w^ho still maintain that the mahogany from that 

 origin is a bastard variety and that it lacks certain important 

 characteristics w^hich render the wood from regions farther north 

 so valuable. In consequence of these poorly defined marks of 

 inferiority in the quality and appearance of the Panama wood, 

 the prices offered for logs emanating from the Isthmus are 

 generally from 15 to 20 per cent lower than for logs of similar 

 description from Nicaragua and Mexico. 



There are buyers of mahogany logs who maintain that the 

 Panama wood is lighter both in w^eight and color, has more 

 gum, a greater amount of sapwood and is more apt to split and 

 check in drying than wood from other sources of supply. Others 

 amplify these unfavorable characteristics and in addition claim 

 that the w^ood is "w^oolly," saws stringy and is not susceptible to 

 the same high degree of polish as that obtained from better 

 known sources of origin. And, as already stated, there are those 

 who confidently declare that Panama mahogany is not a mahogany 

 at all. 



No Difference Between Panama and Mexican Mahogany 



Upon noting the long list of objectionable features ascribed to 

 a well-known and good w^ood from a new source of origin, one 

 begins to realize how difficult it must be to introduce and sell an 

 unknown wood among the super-conservative log or lumber 

 dealers in this country. That the Panama mahogany is genuine 

 and of the same botanical origin as that obtained from Mexico, 

 Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica cannot be questioned. Those 

 who have had the opportunity to study the mahogany in all of 

 these regions, to collect specimens of the leaves, fruit and flowers, 

 to examine the w^ood macroscopically and microscopically and to 

 follow the logs through the mill, and the lumber through the kiln 

 and shops, w^ill agree that there is no more difference between 

 Panama mahogany and that of Mexican origin than there is be- 

 tween that of two mahogany trees growing side by side in Mexico. 



The proof of this is that after genuine mahogany logs from 

 Panama arrive here and are sawn into lumber, graded and kiln- 

 dried, there is generally no effort made to keep the stocks separate 

 and distinct from those of other mainland sources, because the 

 buyer or ultimate consumer who fashions the w^ood into its final 

 form cannot determine by any known means w^hether the particular 

 piece of wood before him originated in Panama or in Mexico any 

 more than he can ascertain by its structure and appearance w^hether 

 a certain piece of oak came from the forest of Pennsylvania or 



Mexican Mahogany, showing 

 dense crown 



Spanish, or Cuban, Mahogany, 

 showing open crown 



Ohio. While it is true that a difference in the soil or climate condi- 

 tions of two regions produces slight differences in the grain and 

 texture of the wood, the mahogany producing regions of southern 

 Mexico do not differ materially as regard soil and climate from 

 those of Panama. Panama is not over seven degrees south of 

 Peten where much of the so-called Mexican w^ood is cut. 



Of course there is an appreciable difference between the mahog- 

 any of Cuba and Haiti and that of Mexico and of the region south- 

 w^ard to Colombia. This is to be expected, because the West 

 Indian, or Spanish mahogany, is botanically distinct from that 

 found on the mainland. The former is the small-leaved mahogany 

 (Swietenia mahagoni) and the latter the large-leaved mahogany 

 (Swietenia macrophylla) ; the one forms an open crown and grow^s 

 rather slow^ly, while the other has a dense crow^n with large 

 dark green leaves and grows relatively faster. While it may 

 be said that the Mexican or mainland species is a lowland tree, 

 this is not always the case, for the bulk of the trees are on well- 

 drained areas elevated 300 or more feet above sea level. The 

 species attains its best development along the low^er slopes of 

 hills, but individual trees occur at an altitude of three thousand 

 feet where they grow much more slowly and the wood in some 

 instances is as hard as that of the Spanish mahogany, which is 

 known to thrive in semi-arid regions. The differences in the woods 

 from widely separated regions, as, for instance, in the case of 

 Mexico and Panama, are not any greater than those that may be 

 observed in logs obtained at different elevations within the State 

 of Chiapas or Tabasco. 



Location of Growth Makes Difference 



If it can be accepted that Panama mahogany is lighter in weight 

 and color, than that from Mexico, it is because the logs brought 

 {Coiithimd 0)1 if'iyi 4N| 



