HARDWOOD RECORD 



little cutting liaa ,rct beuu dunr. Many parts of eitKti'rii aud interior 

 Peru arc covered with trojiicnl forestn aiuiilar to those found in 

 Brazil. These may in time supply much of the country's needs, but 

 at present they arc inacci-siible because of remoteness and lack of 

 railroads. This is evident from the fact that enough railway ties 

 to build eighty miles of track were last year imported from the 

 United States. In years to come I'eru amy be able to meet most 

 of its demands for timber by drawing on its own supply. There is 

 little exact infornmtion concerning Peru's trees. The botanical names 

 of many are familiar, but sizes of trunks and quality of wood aro 

 little known. SoftwooiU are almost totally missing, and many species 

 which are called trees are really largo vines and valueless for lumber. 

 Photographs taken by the expedition sent through Peru and Bolivia 

 to the Amazon River by the Field Museum show a profusion of foliage 

 in the forests, but do not give the impression that the actual output 

 of lumber in that region will ever bo largo; and imports of lumber 

 will probably continue indefinitely, even after railroads reach the 

 interior. 



Bolivia 



Bolivia is fifteen times as large as Pennsylvania and has only one- 

 third of I'cnusylvania 's population. Up to the present time American 

 lumbermen have had little business in that country, nor are the pros- 

 pects encouraging for nn increase of the business. 



Bolivia has no seacoast. The small strip which it once had was 

 taken away in its war with Chile more than thirty years ago. It 

 has access to the Pacific through the ports of Autofagasta, Chile, 

 and Mollendo, Peru. The railroads across the Andes have excessive 

 grades. One of them crosses the summit at an altitude of 14,765 feet 

 above sea level. The freight on such a road is necessarily high on 

 heavy commodities like lumber. The natural outlet is down the Ama- 

 zon and Plata rivers, but distances are great — 2000 to 3.500 miles to 

 the Atlantic coast. Freight would be prohibitive on lumber, but 

 it might not be on furniture, woodenware and agricultural implements. 



The high mountain regions of Bolivia are devoted to mining and 

 stockraising. The Potosi mine has produced .$2,000,000,000 in silver 

 in the past 350 years. There are gold mines and nitrate deposits. 

 East of the mountains the plains of moderate elevations are very 

 fertile. They possess enormous possibilities along agricultural lines, 

 but development is very low. Farmers work with tools such as the 

 Egyptians used 4000 years ago. An awakening is duo in Bolivia, and 

 it would seem that a market for agricultural implements could be 

 developed and that furniture should find a sale. TKe country's im- 

 ports from the United States in 1911 were valued at $3,945,460, and 

 the exports coming to us were worth $2,506,104. Commercial trav- 

 elers pay a tax for doing business in the country and the amount 

 depends on the business transacted, but it seldom exceeds $40 a year. 



The exports of forest products to Bolivia from the United States 

 in 1913 are shown below: 



Douglas flr, feet 46,000 



Furniture $18,430 



Empty barrels 132 



WooUcnwnrc r,44 



Other wood manufactures 1,441 



What has been said of the forest resources of Peru applies gen- 

 erally to Bolivia. The forests belong to the tropical type. There 

 are said to be mahogany and cedar in the region east of the Andes, 

 but information on that subject is meager and somewhat doubtful. 

 Chile 



Chile extends further south than any other country of the world, 

 and from its southernmost point it runs north about 2800 miles. It 

 is narrow in every part, in many places being less than ninety miles. 

 Its area is 307,000 square miles, its population about 4,000,000. The 

 country lies wholly west of the summit of the Andes Mountains and 

 wholly on the Pacific Ocean except in the extreme south, where the 

 continent narrows to a slim peninsula, and there Chile is washed by 

 the waves of both the Pacific and the Atlantic. 



Chile is regarded as one of the three most progressive countries 

 of South America, the others being Argentina and Brazil. Chile's 

 relations with the United States are friendly and opportunities to 

 increase our trade in that direction are excellent. Its total foreign 

 commerce in 1911 amounted to about $240,000,000. The United 



States received its share. The coast of Chile contains excellent bar- 

 boiB and they have been much improved by nrliflcini works. Next 

 after Snn Francisco, in California, the port of Valparaiso in Hiiie 

 is the most important on the Pacific coast of North and South 



In 1913 Chile bought from the United States 64,322,000 feet of 

 lumlx>r, in addition to other articles of wood. Nearly 90 per cent of 

 it came from our Pacific coast states, and as usual with lumber exports 

 to the western parts of South America, Douglas firm predominated 

 over all others. Following is the tabic: 



Kict. 



DouKlns fir '. 0:i.'.'7I.(KiO 



•Ink .'Un.OOO 



Sltkn spruce •ja.^OOO 



Yellow pine L'18,00<J 



White pine iitf.OOO 



Hedwood 1 "J.OOO 



CyproBS 4,00<l 



Yellow poplar 1 ,000 



.VII other lumber 14U,U0V 



Total 04,:iL'2.0O0 



Additional shipments of forest products were made as follows: 



Staves 00,87(1 



Barrel sbooks 000 



Empty barrels 03 



Heading $ 70 



Kound logs t;,476 



Uoors, snsb and blinds 4,042 



Furniture l.'il,004 



American lumber exporters meet more competition in Chile than 

 in any other country of western South America. Some of the others 

 may have as much timber as Chile, but it is less accessible and there- 

 fore is not coming into market. It is shown in the above table that 

 no crossties are listed in our exports to that country. Chile not only 

 supplies its own ties but exports some to the countries northward. 

 A large railroad company of the United States at one time seriously 

 considered the question of importing ties from Chile to this country. 

 It was not done, for the probable reason that it was found that 

 Chile 's timbci; resources had been overstated. 



As is the case in other South American countries, the exact extent 

 and composition of Chile's forests are not well known, but it is certain 

 that tiiey are considerable. The forested area is estimated at from 

 15,000 to 20,000 square miles, principally in the southern part. This 

 area is being rapidly reduced, more by fire than by lumbermen, and 

 the price of stumpage, as well as of native timber, has increased four 

 or five fold in fifteen years. 



Good oak grows in Chile and two or three kinds of beech, one or 

 more of which are evergreen. Beech predominates in the extreme 

 south and the stands are well developed on the damp, chilly island of 

 Terra del Fuego. There are other hardwoods which have no corre- 

 sponding species in the United States but with which our hardwoods 

 shipped to that country must compete. 



The Chilean government takes much interest in forestry and is 

 planting and protecting trees in diflferent localities. Among species 

 which have been planted are eucalyptus, pine, cypress and locust. 

 Timber has been planted in some localities to grow mine props. 

 JIany woods which are not in use arc found in the mountains. The 

 annual output of Chilean sawmills, including crossties and other 

 timbers, is about 500,000,000 board feet, or equal to the lumber pro- 

 duction of the state of New York. Some of this is exported to Peru 

 and Bolivia. It consists of kinds of which there is a surplus; bnt 

 certain other woods, of which there is a deficiency in Chile, are 

 imported. 



Softwoods sent from the United States to Chile will come in 

 competition with araucarian pine (Araucaria imbricaia), which is 

 native in that country. According to the best obtainable information, 

 it is not abundant and most of the supply is in remote regions difficult 

 of access. The tree often exceeds 150 feet in height and five or sir 

 in diameter. A large plank may be seen at the Field Museum in 

 Chicago. The wood is of a dull, monotonous color; the rings are 

 strongly marked, and the wood looks like a substantial timber, but 

 there is a question whether it is strong enough to stand the test 

 with yellow pine, Douglas fir, or even with Sitka spruce. 



