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J^ World Markets for American Lumber ^ 



FOURTH AKTIOLE 



Editor's Note 

 The coUDtrioa uf Soiitb Amcrlcn wUlcb face (be Atlii 



Im- one of tbe most iiroiiilsltiE foreltjn marketH for i ._ . . _,- . . . . 



iklii;: 111 tliiit (Ilrpcllon. CondllluDH od the raHtern sldr nf South America dltTtr Krcally from tbonc on the 



''■ r n-Klon Is moKtly dry nnrt trei'lcsK, whlli- the I'liHlcrn Klde 1h ili'ii»ely wooded and In dnmp. except the 



V countrleK. I'ruk'iinv and ArKenllnn. I.iimhi'riiii'ii who coiitunplnte Hhlpptni; their prodiictH Into a 

 r to n region contlKiioiiH to forests, kIiohUI carefully consider cundllionH liefore rUkliiK loo much. 

 • nccoiupnnyliiK arilcli'. which Is ftmrlh of the bitIch. Is to show In what part of iMistern South 

 lumber inarkels are now found: what are the apparent olistaci™ to an extension of the trade, and 

 "" ' I1I..I1-. lire favorable. 



Kiistfrn Soutli Ainericn, ns it is cousidered in tiiis arlielo, inehnies 

 V'fnpruclii, the Uiiianiis, Briizil, Parnguny, Uruguay, and Argentina, 

 ■ I region greater in extent than the area of the United States with 

 II tlie country between onr borders and Panama added. It is a region 

 • t enormous resources and of great possibilities, but small portions 

 .rily have thus far been developpii in a way to make them buyers of 

 i»rest products from tlie United States. The amounts of shipments 

 t.) those countries at the present time are encouraging, but they yet 

 fall much short of what they will ultimately be. 



Most of eastern South America is forested. In much of the area 

 the tree growth is luxuriant, for the climate is tropical and the rain- 

 fall is heavy. Toward the southern part of the continent, particu- 

 larly in Uruguay and Argentina, the country is generally treeles.s, 

 but the rains are sufficient to render the land suitable for agriculture 

 and grazing. The region as a whole could easily support twenty 

 times its present population, but there is no other prosjject than 

 that the growth in population will be slow. Extensive plains and 

 mountainous areas in the interior are now practically without people. 



Most of the countries of eastern South America supply products 

 tor the markets of the United States, and to that extent the condi- 

 tions of trade lietween this country and that are favorable. The 

 southern countries sell us cattle, or meat and hides; the central 

 region furnishes coffee and rubber, for which the people of the 

 L'nited States are the best customers; while cabinet woods and other 

 articles come to us from the coast of the Caribbean sea. Lumber is 

 among the commodities which we give in exchange, and the business 

 is capable of much enlargement. 



Such is the general situation in brief outline; but for closer study 

 of trade opportunities of interest to lumbermen, it is necessary to 

 consider the countries separately. 



Venezuela 



the most northern country of the group now under 

 Its coasts are washed by the Caribbean sea and the 

 The largest vessels can safely approach both coasts, 

 navigation, added to that of the lakes, totals 38,943 

 miles. Venezuela boasts of 1,059 rivers, the largest of which is the 

 Orinoco, which at Bolivar is 480 feet deep. The country has a few 

 lines of railroad, which, with water transportation, supply fairly 

 satisfactory means of communication between the different parts of 

 Venezuela. The country is thirteen times as large as Pennsylvania, 

 with less than half of Pennsylvania's population, and it is apparent 

 that the market for lumber in a region so thinly settled cannot be 

 large. The following table gives the quantity and value of lumber 

 imported into Venezuela from the United States in 1913: 



Kind Feet B. M. Value 



I.ongleaf pine lumber 1,405,000 



I/ongleaf pine timbers 780,000 



White pine 4:;.S.000 



other yellow pine 12L',000 



Spruce 18,000 



Yellow poplar 1,000 



Value 

 » 170 



Venezuela 

 consideration 

 Atlantic ocea 

 while the riv 



S41,3:!-.i 

 18,G87 

 10.494 



ti.sar, 



G80 



Vli other lumber. 



212,000 



Total 2,776,000 584,087 



One large ocean ship would carry at a single load the whole export 

 of lumber from this country to Venezuela in 1913. There were, how- 

 «>vcr, other exi)orts of forest products to Venezuela from the United 



— IS— 



States that year, the kinds an.l value nf which arc 

 table which follows: 



AUTICI.E 



Incubators * 



liouse linish l.'T.y 



Wooden ware 1 40 



Wagons and carriaKes 2(1,43:1 



Wheelbarrows, etc .'i.SHB 



Hox shooks 405 



»:i4,270 



Venezuela's forests contain many woods which are valuable and 

 many which are not. They are almost exclusively hardwoods, and 

 will not seriously compete with pine and fir from the United States 

 when used for structural purposes, particularly in heavy work. Yet 

 A'enezuela has some trees suitable for structural timbers of a high 

 order. Such woods are tisually very heavy. The collection of 

 Venezuela woods exhibited at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893 

 is now in the Field Museum, Chicago. These woods are shown in 

 connection with those from Colombia, Guiana, Brazil and Paraguay, 

 and while there is much variety, they are nearly all strange to 

 Americans, both as to name and appearance, and it is useless to ile- 

 scribe them in detail, or to give tlieir names. A few of them, with 

 which American timber dealers are familiar, will be specially listed 

 in the discussion of Brazil's forests in this article. That will suf 

 fico for Paraguay, Brazil, Guiana and A'cnezuela, since their forests 

 are alike in general features. 



The name A'enezuela means "little Venice," and was bestowed 

 on the country by early explorers who found a village built on piles 

 over the water near one of the harbors. 

 The Ouiaaas 



The country now shown on the map as Guiana is in three jiarts: 

 British, Dutch, and French. The name was formerly apjilied some- 

 what loosely to a very large region between the Orinoco and Amazon 

 rivers, and early explorers pronounced it a country of untold wealth. 

 Fuller explorations have found no paradise there, though much of 

 the region is fertile and highly productive. It lies near the equator, 

 is flat and wet, and parts of it are reputed to be unhealthful, with 

 plagues of insects and reptiles. It is, however, a country of splendid 

 forests, and some of the timbers imported from there are well known 

 in the United States. The greenheart, of which the Panama canal 

 gates were made, is one of the best known. 



Softwoods are almost wholly wanting in Guiana, and this provides 

 an opening for imports from the United States, chiefly of pine. In 

 1913 the imports of white pine amounted to 59,000 feet, worth 

 .$6,289; longleaf pine 1,106,000 feet, value $31,125; oak 4,000 feet, 

 worth $233. In addition to lumber, the forest products carried to 

 Guiana from the United States were the following: 



Kind Value 



Barrel shooks ? 20,208 



Staves 75,748 



Ileadins 20,899 



Box shooks 635 



Furniture 3,837 



Wheelbarrows 112 



Incubators 60 



House finish 55 



Woodenware 317 



..$121,871 



