54 AMERICAN LUMBER IN FOREIGN MARKETS. 



While the timber is much esteemed for construction, its fruit, which is a pod of 

 sweet pulp, is an excellent food for cattle. The natives also make a species of bread 

 out of it called palao, and also extract a liquor from it which when new is quite 

 refreshing, but after fermentation is very intoxicating, and hence is a favorite bever- 

 age at some of their social meetings. 



The nandubay (Acacia cavernia) is a small tree, whose hard and heavy wood make 

 it much sought after for fence and telegraph posts. It is said to be almost indestruc- 

 tible, neither air, water, nor earth having any effect upon it. It produces a fruit 

 which contains a great deal of tannin, and is also employed as a black dye. Specific 

 gravity, 1.100 to 1.221. 



The Acacia molinifornm bears a fruit also much sought after by cattle, though 

 most of the species are characterized by such enormous thorns that in some parts 

 the woods are almost impenetrable. I would add that a gum exudes from these trees 

 which I believe could be made into gutta pereha if the proper processes were 

 employed. 



Another very important tree found in this formation is the quebracho, the most 

 frequent variety of which in these forests is the white (aspidosperma quebracho). 

 It is of middle size, with oblong, thorny leaves. It forms great forests in some dis- 

 tricts, and its timber is very useful for various purposes, and latterly has been 

 applied in the xylographic art. It takes an exquisite polish. Specific gravity, 0.880. 



The moyes or molles is also a valuable evergreen tree and exceedingly beautiful in 

 its appearance. One species produces a fruit from which is prepared a sweet, aro- 

 matic, refreshing liquor; another variety bears a berry from which incense is manu- 

 factured, and still another is used for tanning purposes, while a fourth variety 

 (alvarillo del campo) is noted for its savory and refreshing fruits, which are very 

 similar to plums, and only the more agreeable because they contain a certain after- 

 taste of bitter almonds. Specific gravity, 0.520. 



The chanar (Gurliaca decorticans} is found everywhere throughout the submoun- 

 tainous regions, and its wood is much appreciated on account of its firmness and 

 durability. It produces a sweet and savory fruit, and has the peculiarity of annu- 

 ally renewing its bark. Near the tropics it attains large proportions, though its 

 trunk is irregular. Specific gravity, 0.568. 



GIANT CACTI FORESTS, 



There are many other trees in this formation, but they are small and have no value 

 for timber purposes ; and also a great variety of shrubs and brushes, to say nothing 

 of vines, 'parasites, epiphytes, airplants, etc., though they do not come within the 

 scope of this sketch. I must, however, refer to the family of the cacteos, which are 

 as strange in form as abundant in distribution. They attain to immense propor- 

 tions, some of them reaching a height of 40 feet, with trunks in proportion, and 

 their wood is used in different industries and also in the mines. In a late visit to 

 the northern provinces I passed through a forest of these gigantic cacti. It was one 

 of the strangest and most weird sights that can well be imagined. They stood in 

 groups. Here they frowned upon us spherical and spirated with formidable thorns 

 nearly a foot long, and yet from their grooved sides radiating most delicate flowers; 

 there they rose in tall fluted columns like ancient ruins, or with their long-jointed 

 arms in menacing attitude, looked like giant witches beckoning you to stop ; and 

 yonder through the vista they were trailing like huge serpents over fallen trees or 

 coiling in the crevices of the outcropping rocks. The largest species is the ccreua, 

 the flowers of which are white; those of the opuncice are orange color or yellowish 

 red, while the serpent-formed cactece have lively red flowers. One species produces 

 the tunas or "figs of Algiers," some breed the cochineal insects, the cultivation of 

 which is now carried on to some extent in Tucuman, and which, if proper methods 

 were adopted, could be made of great importance to the country. At present the 



