42 



AMERICAN LUMBER IN FOREIGN MARKETS. 



EXPORTS OF NATIVE WOODS. 



In regard to exports of lumber from the country, there is as yet very 

 little to be said. As we have seen, while the upper territories and 

 provinces are an unbroken forest of primeval proportions, in which are 

 to be found hundreds of varieties of hard woods, susceptible of the 

 very finest polish and presenting the most exquisite colorings, yet the 

 country is almost devoid of the soft woods of commerce. There are 

 pines in the territory of* Misiones and along the eastern slopes of the 

 Cordilleras of Patagonia, but they are quite inaccessible to market. 

 Years hence, with the development of the country, they may come to 

 the front. At present the only woods which are shipped abroad are 

 the hard woods of the upper Parana. Owing to their specific gravity, 

 it is impossible to float the logs, and so they are brought down in chutes 

 or are loaded from the banks directly in sailing vessels bound for 

 Europe. The first movement towards the export of Argentine woods 

 was made in 1875. Since then the annual shipments to foreign markets 

 have been: 



It is evident from these custom-house returns that the greater por- 

 tion of the lumber and precious woods of the country are made use of 

 here at home. The value of the forest exports for 1891 amounted to 

 about 8 per cent of the total exports. In 1892 it amounted to about 4 

 per cent of the total exports. The exports of these years embraced the 

 following items: 



Value in 





All these shipments went to European ports, except a small portion 

 of the cedar and of the quebracho, which was sent to the United States 



