REVIEWS 



Las Maderas Argoitinas: su Iiiiportancia Industrial. Eduardo B. 

 Castro Rosario. 1918. Pp. 345. 



The great shortage of shipping during the war, with its resulting 

 falHng off in lumber imports and especially with the acute shortage of 

 coal, has brought to public attention the question of the development 

 and proper use of Argentina's great forest wealth. The forest area of 

 the country is given by provinces, with a total of 106,884,400 hectares, 

 or 36 per cent of the total land area. This figure apparently includes 

 all forest soil, whether or not it actually bears merchantable timber, 

 since previous estimates have shown but 13 per cent of the country 

 forested. Development of forest industries has barely begun, except 

 for the exploitation of quebracho. A few wood-using industries, such 

 as manufactures of furniture and fine cabinet work, have been started 

 within the past 25 years, but they have been handicapped by lack of 

 encouragement on the part of the Government and by the idiosyn- 

 cracies of the consumers, who prefer imported goods merely because 

 accustomed to them. The State now has an opportunity to put forest 

 industry on a stable basis, capable of supplying the entire domestic 

 demand for all products, and of furnishing a large surplus for export. 

 A serious difficulty is the lack of statistical and technical data regarding 

 the character and extent of the forest resources. The purpose of this 

 book is to make available information about the principal commercial 

 trees found in Argentine forests. 



For convenience, the species are divided into four groups, according 

 to density of the wood. Very hard woods (density 1.10 to 2.00) include 

 20 species; hard woods (0.70 to 1.10), 125 species; medium hard 

 woods (0.45 to 0.70). 86 species, and soft woods (0.20 to 0.45), 29 

 species. For each is given common and botanical name, commercial 

 distribution, a brief silvical description, mechanical properties as far 

 as known, and principal uses. Unfortunately for convenience of 

 reference, no index is provided. 



The introductory portion of the book outlines briefly the history of 

 legislation concerning forests, which began with the Spanish, in 1607. 

 Since the establishment of the Republic various administrations have 

 i:ndertaken to regulate cutting of public forests, but for a long time 

 little was accomplished, owing to lack of funds. Since 1911 the Office 

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