50 AMERICAN LUMBER IN FOREIGN MARKETS. 



Burns, an American now resident in this country and in charge of the national pow- 

 der establishment at Kio Cuarto, all of which sources of information are supple- 

 mented by my own observations in various excursions through the different parts of 

 the country. It is proper, however, to state that there are still many portions of 

 the Republic, especially the formations of the Gran Chaco and Misiones, about 

 whose flora very little is yet scientifically known, while much of our knowledge of 

 other parts of the country may be only superficial. 



DISTRIBUTION OF FORESTS. 



I would premise by stating that the distribution of forests in the Argentine Repub- 

 lic is very unequal. While some parts are thickly covered with timber, other por- 

 tions, though abounding in rich and succulent grasses, are entirely devoid of trees, 

 corresponding in this respect to our Western plains. Other parts, again, are almost 

 without soil, and sterile, exhibiting only the scantiest manifestations of a stunted 

 vegetation, while still others are covered to a more or less extent with boskets of 

 low shrubs or brushwood. Extending, however, as the Argentine Republic does, 

 from Cape Horn on the southern extremity of Terra del Fuego (latitude 56 south, 

 longitude 67 west), almost within the antarctic circle, to the regions of the tropics 

 (latitude 20 south, longitude 58 west), the great diversity of vegetation in its 

 45,392 square geographical leagues of area can well be understood. On this account 

 the surface of the country has been divided by some naturalists * into not less than 

 nine different formations, corresponding to the species of flora which they afford, 

 and to the physiognomy of their vegetation in general. While noticing these dis- 

 tinct groups it is not, however, necessary to do more than give a very general 

 description of them, since some of them contain nothing which can be dignified 

 with the name of timber. For the purposes of this sketch, which has nothing to 

 do with the classification of the flora of the country, much less with their struc- 

 tural composition or physiological .peculiarities, but simply with " the products of 

 the forests," i. e., their economic uses, as affording timbers, fiber, dyes tuffs, tanning 

 materials, etc., it is much more convenient to follow the geographical divisions 

 which naturally present themselves, since thus their localities can be better identi- 

 fied and understood. 



TERRA DEL FUEGO AND THE ADJACENT ISLANDS. 



I begin, then, at the southern extremity of the continent, which includes Terra, 

 del Fuego and the numerous adjacent islands. In regard to this region, which has 

 never been fully explored, I am able to present but few data, for the reason that so 

 little is yet known as to its flora. It is, however, reported to be most densely cov- 

 ered with forests, composed almost entirely of beech wood (Fagns lietnloidcs) and 

 winter's bark. This beech keeps its leaves all the year, having a foliage of a pecul- 

 iar brownish-green color, with a tinge of yellow. Prof. Darwin, who visited 

 Terra del Fuego in 1832,t says it is almost impossible to find an acre of land not 

 covered by the densest forests. He described the country as a mountainous land, 

 partly submerged by the sea, so that deep inlets and bays occupy the place where 

 valleys should exist. The trees, which covered the mountain sides from the very 

 water's edge, reach to an elevation of between 1,000 and 1,500 feet, and are succeeded 



* Prof. Lorentz divides the vegetation of the Argentine Republic into the follow- 

 ing formations: (1) Formation of the Puna; (2) subtropical formation; (3) forma- 

 tion of the Chaco; (4) monte formation; (5) formation of the Pampa; (6) Putsigo- 

 nian formation; (7) formation of antarctic forests ; (8) Paraguayan formation, and 

 (9) Mesopotamian formation. 



t A Naturalist's Voyage Around the World, by Charles Darwin, M. A., page 210, 

 et eq. 



