516 JOURNAL OF FORKSTK^' 



War conditions have probably reduced or cut off entirely the impor- 

 tation of lumber to Brazil. This is probably stimulating the lumber 

 industry to greater efforts, or else the amount of lumber that is con- 

 sumed is greatly reduced. If the war conditions should continue long, 

 the lumber industry would undoubtedly be greatly stimulated. After 

 the war, when the lumber industry of the United States will be pushed 

 to the limit to furnish timber for the increased demand at home and 

 to the Allies in Europe, the amounts that reach southern South Amer- 

 ica may be limited and possibly cut off entirely by the United States 

 Government. 



The amount of imported timber consumed annually in Brazil, Argen-- 

 tina, Uruguay, Chile, and Peru approximates 600 million feet; for 

 Brazil and Argentina, mostly southern yellow pine ; for Chile and Peru, 

 Douglas fir, as against 257 million feet of South American woods (6, 7). 

 This is mostly sawn lumber. No estimate is available for the consump- 

 tion of native wood in all its forms, such as railroad ties, paving blocks, 

 firewood, telegraph and telephone poles, etc. I should not be surprised 

 that, if the figures were available, the total amount of native woods con- 

 sumed would reach nearly to one billion board feet. The amount of 

 firewood alone used must be great, for many railroads, sugar mills, etc., 

 use wood for fuel. Practically all native woods are used for railroad 

 ties in both Brazil and Argentina. In the latter country the government 

 specifies the use of native woods for railway sleepers. Argentina and 

 Uruguay alone import 450 million feet from the United States and 

 Europe, as against 119 million feet of South American woods. Of this 

 amount 63 million comes mostly from Brazil and Paraguay and 56 

 million mostly from the Gran Chaco region of northern Argentina. 



To sum up, the stand of timber in the southern Brazil region and 

 adjacent regions of Paraguay and northern Argentina is sufficient to 

 supply the entire market of southern South America. Will the lumber 

 industry in this part of the world be sufficiently developed to meet the 

 necessity that confronts it? 



Turning now from the western tropics to the eastern tropics, let 

 us see what the situation is. I have already traced the development of 

 the lumber industry of the Philippines from an importing to an export- 

 ing country. I have shown that the major part of the timber in its 

 forests consists of hardwoods that have locally replaced pine for all 

 sorts of construction work; that the main bulk of the timber in these 

 forests consists of members of one family (9, 10), and that modern 

 logging methods introduced into these forests have made it possible to 

 employ timbers that were formerly little used. I have called attention 



