34 



H A R D W O O D- RECORD 



eJaano for furniture. . Maneono .and lanate, 

 which bplong also to ithis group, are not so 

 widely used. Lanate- is a fine grained 

 •white wood, oxcellent foT carving, and man- 

 eono, ±he heav-iest- and hardest of -aJI Philip- 

 pine woods, has only recently come into nse. 

 It is of sueb- a character that it may «vent- 

 : ually bcooine a substitute for that well- 

 known and most valuable' timber, lignum- 

 vitae, whieh is rapidly approaching extinc- 

 tion. . : • ' '' • ■ .- 



1 Some of the; fiist ■ igroup woods, such as 

 imolave and ,narra,i are found in almost 

 e-rery province of the Islands, although 

 never in heavy enough- stands to make their 

 exploitation om a large scale worth wJiiie. 

 Yacal, . acle, ipil and tindalo ,lre not so 

 -Vifidely spread^and while the first is some- 

 ;tJmes found in greater abundance the others 

 •are widely scattered. The provinces which 

 produce the most ipil are Palawan, Caga- 

 yan, and Isabela; .the best stands of narra 

 ■are encountered in- Cagayan and Mindoro, 

 and yacal is most abundant in Tayabls. 

 The last named province produces also a 

 good deal of molave, but in this respect is 

 second tb Mindanao, where so far the heav- 

 iest stands of this valuable wood have 

 '.teeent fQund.; • 



-'■The real ebouyoccurs onlyin small quan- 

 -tities and the black heart ; wood of the 



- eamagon tree which is found in all part's of 

 the islands, is frequently substituted for it. 

 These twonwoods' are mostly used for small 



• turniture and walking loanes land in the 

 sub-province of Abra, Iloeos Sur/.rtbere-ex- 



-istS a flourishing industry 'j^f carving :cama- 



'.■gon canes,' of very intricate^ -design . and. re- 

 :qUii'ifig' great 'skill and infinite jjatienee'in 



-th'?ei- execution. ; J'he 'popnlar fruit sold on 

 the Manila market under the name of 



-Mabolo comes from the camagon tree. 



.;t .' Considering the relative, scarcity of the 



:fiTSt- group -woods they never will form a 

 great- faetpr iuMthe- exports jjf Philippine 



-timber, but under a wise forest manage- 

 ment and a: definite': policy' -;of replanting 

 the non-agricultural' waste' lands' with such 



• trees', the time will co-me when they will 

 agaihi 'be plentiful. • j iThen 'gvery Klipino 

 will be able to build his house with these 

 strong and ^Santi'iul' ^otJcTs'lnstead of bam- 



i ibos'-'or^oft- wood which- will noti/jvithstand 

 !a severeistornl or:resist the jatta^jka. of ;the 

 ij'vsfhite^aoat oild' other insects. 



Narra .or, jPa^ojils, . ^ 



„ .'B^^asi.m wcqd is,)?ett#j-,,Jino,-svn in the 



- Bh}l,ippin.es than, .narra,; bec?,use. ■ of,,, the 

 y,.be^,uj,iful «nq-pie.ee;|,tfi.b[le: tops madi^.ifrom 

 ■ .this_,jW00(i, , Tl)e?e;aii9' take^n from the large 



.jgptg, -or, .buUrqss,ea,,tli%t pccur,,5it .the. Jjase 



. ;|0f |}i(e,,trj.ink. .. Table- bops .\ij>, to. eightf f,eet 

 .^.i^ dJ9.!ge);er,,i^r,^ jna!je,.;(?f thgae lsii,l;ffes|es.; 

 ■,'r.jlJarra^ ..9S<i'->Tfi -;i? ,_^b]5ee. , vari^ties,;!i;Viz: 

 ....White,, „yellQi3r, an,d jj-,ed.. ,-,.I^,igr^des.: .from 

 rather soft to fairly har^d, w(>o<;li. ; Spmetimes 

 ..alliiTt5'!T^-^.:!p°Vori§; aiifPcfQVP'i i^.'P-.'. on,e [tree. 

 , Brigl),t,re(li'narra is, .exceedingly, rare,, 'yel- 

 low ifftrra, with red streaks, is, .o,ften 



stained redi' •and for. all praoticail purposes 

 is nearly ;as good aS' the :natural -colored 

 . wood. IJBdei; the name "of ' ' padcuk, ' ' narra 

 ■has long been' linown in the London mar- 

 i.kiet;' The Adanian Islands have furnished 

 ■.the-;principal. supply of -padouk; Unfortu- 

 nately, narra is not found in large quanti- 

 ties anywhere in. the Philippines. It, how- 

 oyer, occurs scattered on flats and along 

 streams in practically all 'the provinces, and 

 in siich places 'sviir average less than one 

 free' to the' acre.' Excep'tionail stands for 

 very liraitecl area's 'will riiii as liigh as three 

 or four trees' to the acire. 



"while iiafi-a is pre-emiriently a furnit'ure 



wood, in rerndte districts it is used for 



bancas, and in some instances for mining 



props. In Singapore, narra is plan,ted as a 



shade, tree,., Its , symmetrical, :, globular 



crown, -and ..bright yell<)w , ,blos?on\s give a 



, beautiful .effect:. It, 'is readily prppaga,ted 



, f roiji cuttings,, and grp'ws, rapidly. . It is one 



. pf the. principal trees used to shade hemp. 



.in southern Luzon. 



Narra is spmetipes sold as Philippine 

 mahogany, but the. limited, cjiiantities pres- 

 ent in the Philippines do not favor its wide 

 acceptance in the lumber markets of the 

 wi.rld. 



Ipil 

 The tliree most common durable woods 

 in the Philippines are molave, yacal and 



■ ipil: : ■ ,•■ L '^-j.i V , - ... 



■■ Mlpil,' wheu freshly cut,' is yellowish in 

 icolor, but avith age turns dark I'.peddiSh 

 "brown.,': Most' 'pieces -of ipil'.shOw, Isome of 

 the pores 'filled with, a' sillphur-yellow de- 

 posit,- by which.: it ean tie i readily distin- 

 yui-sbed. ■" ■ .■ i; ,: f; :. , ■ ■ ■' •'.'■:' 



:::Ipil, while- not 'jasjiextensiTely • used'' as 

 I narra and tindalo, as a fine furniture-, in- 

 terior finish, and xabiuet wpodj 'Vet, because 

 it takes a good polish,- is: 'Second only to 

 thosti..jvell-JMOwn woods f-or sueh puiposes. 

 ■^ : : Because of. j-ts.-rgreat durability when in 

 epntaet^ with; the ground; ipil -is being ex- 

 ,)engiyely used as o-ailroad tiesi;,- It is'_also 

 one of the main woods used for liouse posts. 

 As such, it forms the portion of the posts 

 in contact with the ground. To this, for 

 the upj)e]Lj)art of-ite-rf)ost are often spllctd* 

 less du'gi©Qi©e^|^ike^|XSC\P|. 



'While ipil has a wide distribution 

 ■thrcWghbut the ■ Pltilipf ibes;- ' ffl ''is^iowhere ' 

 abundanf 'O'-i-er' largfe IJfactS' of land. Scat- 

 tered tre-c** are -found-" alon^ the' coasf,' espe- ' 

 •'iJ'ially neav th« mouths of 'rivers; and 'they 

 'fioihetimes ftccur on low coastal hills. '-Ipil 



■ gro-ws in' Bo*neo,5'hrider 'the "ilain^ of iiiera- ■ 

 •T'lau or Bprneo ipil.' 'While' fOHria''sca'ttered 

 'in 'practically '.all ■j(r6^>in«*es-'of th'e Philip- ■ 

 pinlB's',"jFal^Wah ntW'lurnis!hies->'flife largest 



: sijppiyji;!')-! '!!w:^^•■>^ ni ■■■•^i-i'aij'r^^R'} ■■ -• ; 



■ :?i!!^';J •I'dfitit^v d lij.-i' -' •-laiii ?J33-ii;'l 



,,^Pne. of,rt]i?,,,poDjmonest,,;-(v,o,od3., ip, .the . 



Philippjines.,,ip,,,(^llp r^ddis.h fvood,,.. known 



-,,,?pnu)i,^r(;ia]i.y,,}?y (tfje Jagalpg ngjno of, api- 



,, J,ung,, . 'Tliere., , a^e_,.^;^ygi-al, • §pecie,^ ■ pf , .tjraes 



■iyliicji prodqce. this ,-W0|(^,(J, liino.wJtt: ■b,y manv 



names in different parts of the Islands. 

 Although the trees can be recognized in 

 the _ forest by the bark, leaf, flower and 

 fruit, their woods are so much alike that 

 they cannot be distinguished with cer- 

 tainty, and lumbermen class them all as 

 apitong. 



Apitong is rather hard and moderately 

 heavy, weighing about 45 pounds per cubic 

 foot. The heart wood is generally of a 

 dun reddish coloi", and has a distinct resin- 

 ous odor; the sap wood is 'gra'yish and has 

 less odor. The heart wood is strong, and, 

 when not in contact with the ground or 

 exposed; to the rain, fairly durable. It is 



■ not often attacked severely by insects, bnt 

 l.he termite (the so-called -n'hite ■ant): soine- 



-times damages it, although-sloWly:. ' 



The grain of apitong is somewhat crossed, 

 but fairly; stratgh*) ■ and ' generally rather 

 coarse. It is i 'usually -not difficult to saw or 

 plane, but on ^account of its' coarse grain 

 and resinous -nature; it cannot be- polished. 



, It can, h-owever,' be stained and varnished, 

 as is frequently done in cheapesr g*a<les of 

 furniture. i 



Logs : of ajiitong are generally straight, 

 clear and sound. The 'waod shrinks a good 

 deal in drying,; and is liable to warp, but 

 does not check or split muchi 



A].iitong is put to a wide variety of uses. 

 It has been : used for bancns (dug-out 

 canoes), shipbuilding, posts, beams, floor- 

 ing piles^ cheap furniture, railway ties, pav- 

 ing blocks; and many minor uses.' It is 



•especially j valuable) £or itaiterior/'coiiat-ruotion 

 timbers. - ■ ; ■; ' " ,;. ■ < ■ ' 



Ka,ttan pi- Bejuco 

 , .„jF'q;w^pfioplq.rea^Jiie, l^e" impprtaji&e of the 

 minor forest- pro(iuct,s of the, Philippines. 

 ..This industry is the collecting and selling 

 of firep'Qpd, gums, resins, rattans., Of these 

 products, ra.ttan or bejuco a^ iJ;.is,.qomjtnonly 

 .called in the Phi.lipprn,^s,, is.,,|jjr^,'np., m^ans 

 the le^st irnpprtanj;. ..,,^^, . ,, ....j,; 



In the year ,1905,-06,', |prest. clj^geg were 

 p9,id,,pn , pver forty-five ,,n)illion piece.s, and 

 in the following year the output , rea,ched 

 over fifty million pieces. 



'The best bejucos are obtained from the 

 '''2 tai%|^|3^^Q^Jf54llected by 

 mountain people. Those^that come from 

 the, I lowlands-. ;i9(re nVipually ' iiosffirioi in 

 strength, and fij*eneSiS: of; 'fi'hr*. 'l!-:! -fi. 

 I .Rslt.'m :ha3,,a -yitide.'rBUge-iPf usesj/'iTte 

 ■iargest aijd.stroijgesti, pieces of the! (fhoieest 

 [IjLindssiftrp made into ; furniture and ;or8a- 

 r|ienta:pf various ; kinds. -Wh«p. s{)Ut • into 

 .strips,; b.ejucos- .are-, woveU' , into chai*' and 

 bod,; 'IjpttpiBs, .and,, for, -use around bottles. 

 .ItP !iom6,;plsces they 'are,, usfd toJ-' ilporiflg, 

 ■as,,[^.jSU't>stitute for ..bam|boD.',.iB.7" farr-the 

 ■largest ,Joeal. use to ,wJliclj be.-jaco is'paKis 

 for tying purposes. BaJjucoSii'are cheap, 

 gtrong 'and ab.undiint, andi thenef&rc prefer- 

 iflble^tp li,?uip',for pa,cljagesF, when exposed , to 

 ithe Treather. Tbey.are- iiniversall(yntsed |in 

 (he PWlippines j'QiS -a stvbptitute for,-.jja»ls. 

 TJjc parts ^pf i.iBia-ijy- hp.us,es),tane entirely 



