HARDWOOD RECORD 



19 



The foregoing are hardwoods. They are not the rivals most to be 

 feared by American lumber exporters. The softwoods from the Si- 

 berian forests may be expected to make a fight for the markets of 

 eastern Asia, though they have not yet done so. If the popular names 

 of the softwoods are relied upon, there is danger of error in classify- 

 ing them. What is called " Ayan pine" is a spruce (Picea ajanensis) ; 

 another called pitch pine is likewise spruce (Picea orientalis) ; the 

 tree known as Siberian cedar is a pine (Pinus cembra). The Siberian 

 fir (Abies sibcrica), the Siberian larch (Larix siberica), and Dahur 

 larch (Larix dahurica) are softwoods growing aboundantly over large 

 areas. Another pine (Pinus covimunis) is said to be plentiful. Man- 

 churian cedar, au important timber tree, is another case of misnaming. 

 It is not a cedar but a pine (Pinus manshnrica) . 



The foregoing Siberian softwoods may be expected to put in 

 their appearance in the markets of eastern Asia as soon as transpor- 

 tation facilities provide means for taking them out of the forests. 



Time only can tell how keen will be the rivalry further south in 

 Asia between these Siberian softwoods and those exported from Cali- 

 fornia, Oregon, and Washington. There is little rivalry now, because 

 the Siberian product is not going to market in distant regions. Doug- 

 las fir and redwood from California and Washington can be laid 

 down in Hongkong, Singapore, and other ports of Cliina and the 

 southern countries at less cost than can the softwood from northern 

 Asia. That may not be the situation always. 



If general descriptions may be relied upon, Siberia has much large 

 timber; but absence of exact information on this subject should be 

 noted. Probably the country produces nothing of size to match the 

 large structural timbers cut from Douglas fir. 



Japan 



Though Japan is a small country, it produces large quantities of 

 timber. Forests are cared for like farm crops, and lumbering is car- 

 ried on after the most economical methods. The wooded lands cover 

 55,000,000 acres. These are stocked with the best classes of timber, 

 and the yield per acre is high. The oak was mentioned above in 

 connection with Siberia. Practically all Siberian species grow also 

 in Japan, but the thrifty Japanese do not permit unprofitable kinds to 

 cumber the ground. The best kinds are given the best chance. The 

 result is that Japan, ui proportion to its size, is probably the best 

 timber producer in the world. Its lumber merchants are keen com- 

 petitors of the Americans in the markets of eastern Asia. How- 

 ever, the Japanese are handicapped in markets where large dimensions 

 are wanted. They have nothing to match Douglas fir cut in Wash- 

 ington and Oregon. They cannot afford to let their timber stand 

 long enough to attain such sizes as are common in the forests of 

 our Pacific coast states. 



Japan 's strong point in contending for markets is in pushing 

 small sizes of timber vigorously wherever purchasers are to be found. 

 Utilization is close and prices can be made low. Railroad crossties 

 constitute an important item in Japanese exports. Their carefully 

 managed forests produce these in great numbers. They can grow 

 a carload of cross ties on a plot of a few square rods, and they 

 have the knack of making every rod count. The Japanese oak which 

 in California, Oregon, and Washington, is beginning to crowd out 

 American oak, is grown in the same economical way. Individual 

 transactions are small, but the American lumber exporter to the 

 Orient will find Japanese forest products the keenest rivals that he 

 will be called upon to face in that field. However, that competition 

 will be less severe where dimension stock of large size is concerned. 



China 



The popular belief that China is a country without timber is 

 wrong. The income from its forests exceeds that of Japan, but 

 China is a much larger country. However, the typical Chinese forest 

 is a thing different from what it is in America. The Chinese do 

 not grow timber, they grow poles. They plant the seed and care for 

 the plantations; but when the poles are from six to twelve inches 

 in diameter, they are ready for the market. " Foochow poles," so 

 named from the district where most of them are marketed, are sold 

 by the million. The sales annually at one depot to which place they 

 are brought down the rivers, amount to $5,000,000. The region back 



of Foochow, toward the interior, has been described as ' ' resembling 

 a crazy quilt," with its thousands of woodlots of evergreen trees 

 interspersed among thousands of farms. 



China is a large country, and all kinds of conditions prevail. Some 

 vast regions are absolutely treeless, others are fairly well timbered. 

 The poles are not sawed into boards. Their principal use is for 

 house posts. Houses there use many posts to support the walls and 

 porches. The poles are all softwoods, usually pine and fir. They 

 are rough and knotty, and are often used without much dressing or 

 smoothing. In fine buildings these rough, knotty poles may be 

 covered with gilt or paper to hide the knots. 



The exporters of building lumber to China must meet that compe- 

 tion. Chinese shacks have little use for sawed beams, rafters, and 

 siding. Poles, bamboo, thatch, brick, and tile are the building mate- 

 rials. The construction timbers sent from America are bought by 

 the builders of railroads, wharfs, and modern works of various kinds. 

 China now has 6,000 miles of railroads, and a program, which will 

 doubtless not be carried out for a long time, provides for 75,000 

 miles more. Sun Yet San 's scheme called for railroads crossing 

 the empire in various directions, ultimately connecting with western 

 roads at Constantinople. 



The lack of roads in China makes the distribution of lumber difficult. 

 Boats on the rivers reach portions of the interior, but nothing heavy 

 can be moved inward from the river banks. There are no roads, and 

 wagons are practically unknown. Highways are usually paths for 

 footmen or for wheelbarrows. 



Southern Asia. 



The countries of India, Siam, Burma, Indo China, and the Malay 

 Peninsula constitute a densely populated region of southern and 

 southeastern Asia where some American lumber is beginning to find 

 its way. Our exports to those countries are principally softwoods. 

 Little prospect is seen for a hardwood market there, because those 

 countries have hardwoods of almost infinite variety. With such they 

 supply not only their home demands, but they export certain kinds 

 to America and Europe. Ebony, padouk, teak, and satinwood are 

 well known imports into the United States from those countries. _ 

 There are many more which occasionally come to us, and hundreds 

 of others would come if our markets would take them. 



It would appear to be a hopeless case for America to attempt to 

 secure a foothold for its hardwoods in southern Asia in face of the 

 almost infinite variety of native woods which would be active com- 

 petitors; but there is good prospect of increasing the sale of certain 

 articles there, which are manufactured in part of American hardwoods. 



Agricultural implements are the most promising class. American 

 manufacturers of such implements consume 321,000,000 feet of wood 

 yearly, and any extension of the market for the product will increase 

 the sale of hardwoods. There is a small market in that region for 

 American furniture and for vehicles, and a prospect of increasing the 

 market. Some supplies of that kind, which formerly came from Europe 

 may be expected to drop out of the markets of southeastern Asia, 

 and Americans ought to be able to make substantial gains there. 



The prospect for an increased sale for softwoods in that region 

 is encouraging. Most of southern Asia is tropical or semi-tropical, 

 and softwoods are usually rather scarce in such climates. The moun- 

 tains of northern India produce cedar and pine, and some of the 

 timber is of large size and excellent quality; but it is too far from 

 the coast to compete seriously with the cheap and abundant soft- 

 woods of Washington, Oregon, and California, especially on the 

 eastern coast of southern Asia, where the American woods are secur- 

 ing a foothold. 



Although labor is cheap in southern Asia, lumber operations are 

 expensive because of the primitive methods in use in cutting the 

 timber and bringing it out of the forest, and also because much 

 of the tiniDer is remote and scattered. Teak in the Rangoon coun- 

 try, it is said, scarcely averages one good tree to the square mile. 

 Some of the timber which reaches the market on the coast of Siam 

 and Indo China has been floated a thousand miles down rivers. Tim- 

 ber from Washington and Oregon should have no difficulty in com- 

 peting with native timber of southern Asia which reaches market 

 along a route so expensive. 



