NOTE ON THE TREES IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



One cannot realize the richness of the tree flora of the Philip- 

 pine Islands until he is told that there have already been found 

 over two thousand kinds in the Philippine Islands. This means 

 more to the average person when it is known that here there are 

 probably three times as many varieties as have been found in 

 the United States. When all is known concerning the tree flora 

 of the Philippines, it is probable that this number will reach three 

 thousand. Of course, it must be stated that all of these are not 

 used commercially. It is estimated that one hundred and fifty 

 of them are on the market at the present time. Many of the two 

 thousand are too small to ever be of any great importance com- 

 mercially. 



About one-half the area of the Philippine Islands, or 60,000 

 square miles, is in public forest. Of this 60,000 square miles, 

 more than one-half is in mountainous region, and will not yield, 

 at the present time, much wealth to the Philippines. Indirectly 

 they are of very great importance, for upon them will depend the 

 conservation of moisture, so necessary to extensive irrigation 

 schemes. Less than half of the 60,000 square miles can be classi- 

 fied as forest which will yield commercial varieties of timber. A 

 rough estimate will place the yield of this forest close to forty 

 billion board feet. If this could be placed on the market to-day, 

 at the price of our cheapest timber, it would bring a total of two 

 and a half billion pesos. Of this two and a half billion pesos of 

 wealth the Bureau of Forestry is the guardian. It is the object 

 of this Bureau to have the wealth utilized as rapidly as it can be 

 without danger to the forests. It is believed that about four 

 times the present amount used can be exploited without en- 

 dangering our forest. This would bring the annual amount of 

 timber put on the market, from one hundred million board feet, 

 the present amount, to four hundred million board feet. This 

 would leave three hundred million board to be exported from 

 the Philippines, and thus bring to us considerable wealth. 



Included in the eighteen hundred or more comparatively un- 

 known woods now reposing on herbarium sheets in Manila, and 

 bearing scientific names but no information of commercial im- 



