The Forests of the Philippines. 597 



Locally, they are used for a great variety of purposes. They 

 are especially adapted for light and medium construction work, in 

 which they will find their greatest usefulness. In this respect they 

 are to the Tropics what the lighter grades of pines and their 

 allies are to the temperate regions. Nevertheless, for many classes 

 of construction, because of their color and beautiful grain, they 

 are superior to the pines. This is especially true for interior 

 finish of all classes. The better grades of lauan and tanguile are 

 now being shipped to the United States under the trade name 

 of "Philippine mahogany." 



Apitongs. The trees that furnish timbers of this group are api- 

 tong, hagachac, panao, and guigo. They grade in color from a dirty 

 brownish red to red. In hardness they are moderately hard to 

 hard ; in weight they are moderately heavy. The first three appear 

 in the market under the trade name of apitong, the last as guijo. 

 The former are coarse but generally straight-grained ; the latter 

 has a somewhat finer grain. 



They are used for many purposes, but are especially adapted 

 for heavier construction where contact with the ground is not 

 necessary. Guijo is considered more valuable than apitong. They 

 are not durable timbers, being susceptible to the attacks of white 

 ants and fungi. Of the two, guijo is somewhat the more resist- 

 ant. The apitongs have general construction qualities comparable 

 to the hard pines of the temperate regions. In abundance, they 

 are next in importance to the lauans. 



Yacals. The trees that produce timber of this group are yacal, 

 guisoc, guisoc-guisoc, malayacal, narig, karig, mangachapuy, and 

 dalingdinganisac. The woods as a whole are yellowish brown, be- 

 coming darker with old age. They are all considered very durable 

 timbers. This is especially true of yacal, guisoc, and malayacal, 

 which invariably appear under the market name of yacal. Narig 

 is often mixed with and sold as yacal. Mangachapuy and daling- 

 dingan-isac are sold as mangachapuy.^ 



The yacals are usually hard and heavy. They are as free from 

 the attacks of white ants and fungi as any so-called durable wood 



*Other trees, closely related botanically to these, yielding woods some- 

 wTiat softer and less durable, are also found under the name of man- 

 gachapuy. 



