The Forests of the Philippines. 599 



Borneo mahogany, is hard and moderately heavy, reddish brown 

 wood, with a fine twisted grain, that is capable of taking a good 

 polish. Calantas is the only one of the true mahogany family 

 that is sometimes sold under the name of Philippine mahogany. 

 It is light and soft, reddish in color, and has a distinct odor 

 resembling that of cedar. It is closely related to the West Indian 

 cedar, and while making admirable furniture, piano cases, etc., 

 it is much sought after for cigar boxes. It, however, like other 

 fine woods, is not plentiful. 



Because of their abundance, and therefore their ability to supply 

 the demands for a steady product, the finer grades of red lauan 

 and tanguile will no doubt be known to the outside world as 

 Philippine mahogany. These woods have a beautiful grain and 

 color, and are susceptible of a good polish. They have already 

 found a place in the United States as a substitute for mahogany. 

 Such a market can be steadily supplied with large quantities of 

 these woods. 



Durable Timbers 



Next to fine furniture and cabinetmaking woods, the Tropics 

 are noted for their hard durable timbers. Because of the warm 

 climate and continuous moisture conditions, fungous growths and 

 white ants rapidly destroy those timbers that are not able to with- 

 stand their attacks. No timber is able to do so indefinitely, but 

 some are much more durable than others. Teak is perhaps the 

 best known of this class of woods. This timber, while not in- 

 digenous to the Philippines, occurs in plantations in Mindanao and 

 the Sulu Islands, and it has been demonstrated that the tree can 

 be grown here successfully. It will -no doubt become one of the 

 planted tree crops of the Philippines, and the Islands will thus 

 be enabled to furnish their share of the world's supply of this 

 timber. 



Because of their excellent qualities and comparative abundance, 

 three Philippine timbers may be classed with teak, or at least may 

 be regarded as substitutes for it. These are molave, ipil, and 

 yacal. 



Molave is perhaps the best known hardwood in the Philippines, 

 and more of it is extracted than of any other one kind of wood in 

 proportion to the amount of standing timber. It is a member 

 of the teak family. The wood is hard and heavy, pale yellow 



