TROPICAL FORESTS AND THE WAR 



By H. N. Whitford 

 Yale School of Forestry 



The war is making necessary an inventory of the raw materials of 

 the world. Not only will there be an enormous demand for recon- 

 struction purposes in the war zone, but there will be an increase in 

 practically every country in the world, for many normal peaceful pur- 

 suits that would ordinarily use raw products have been slowed down 

 to make way for war necessities. This applies especially to the indus- 

 tries that are wholly or partially dependent upon wood. In the United 

 States, for instance, larger quantities of lumber will be needed by the 

 railroads, the building industries, furniture factories, and many other 

 wood-working industries. In almost every other country the amount 

 of lumber used locally, except that for war purposes, is less than in 

 normal times. Where is this increased quantity of lumber going to be 

 obtained? It is the purpose of this paper to discuss the role that the 

 tropical timbers are likely to play in the readjustment of the world's 

 demand for timber. 



In the first place, the greatest demand is now and will continue to be 

 for the so-called softwoods, or conifers, which, with some exceptions 

 that are to be noted later, are found mostly in the temperate regions of 

 the northern hemisphere. Besides the inherent qualities of these woods, 

 which are those of lightness in weight combined with comparatively 

 great strength and stiffness, they are easily worked, and the trees pro- 

 ducing them occur in pure stands which permit the use of labor-saving 

 machinery. In the coniferous forests, especially in the United States 

 and Canada, there has been developed the greatest lumber industry that 

 the world has ever seen. The coniferous woods can thus be placed at 

 tide water at a low cost, and hitherto, because of cheap water transpor- 

 tation, they have been distributed to practically all parts of the world 

 and compete successfully in price with the local woods. Prior to 1914 

 some two billion board feet of these woods were consumed annually in 

 the tropics, the south temperate regions, and southern China, all prac- 

 tically non-coniferous-producing regions. 



The character of tropical forests, especially with regard to their com- 



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