AMERICAN LUMBER IN FOREIGN MARKETS. 85 



IMPORTATIONS. 



It is very difficult to obtain figures as to the importation of lumber. 

 So much comes into port in the form of dunnage, ballast, loans, ana 

 spare pieces none of which are recorded by the customs that n6 

 accurate estimate can be made. Thus, the Amoy customs reports of 

 1802 give the imports of hard-wood plank at 4,507, valued at $2,375: 

 imports under " sundries " of lumber are not specified. In the market 

 we have camphor wood in trunks and planks from Formosa, poles and 

 planks from the interior and from Foochow, hard woods from the 

 Philippines, Borneo, the Straits Settlements, and South China. Upon 

 the whole the importation of lumber can not be very large. 



DUTY. 



The duty on imported lumber and timber is as follows: 



Kinds. 



Duty. 



Masts and spars: 



Hard wood, not over 40 feet each.. 



Hard wood, not over 60 feet do. .. 



Hard wood, over 60 feet do. . . 



Soft wood, not over 40 feet do... 



Soft wood, not over 60 feet do . . . 



Soft wood, over 60 feet do 



Beams,* hard wood, square, not over 26 i'eet and 12 Sin i.. s .square do. 



Piles, poles, and joists do 



Kranjee wood (35 by 1.8 feet by 1 frot ; do. . 



Planks, hard wood (not over 24 feet bv 12 by 3 indies) do.. 



Planks, hard wood (not over 16 feet by 12 by 3 inches) do. . 



Planks, teak 1 er ci i bic foot. 



$4.00 

 6.00 

 10.00 

 2.00 

 4.50 

 6.50 

 .15 

 .03 

 .80 

 .35 

 .02 

 .035 

 Redwood per 135 pounds.. i .11 



Soft wood planks, 6 inches and over in thickness, 5 per cent ad valorem. 

 *Five per cent ad valorem or optional. 



CLIMATE. 



The climate of Amoy is tropical and unhealthy. The city is a nest 

 of smallpox in winter and of cholera in summer. The weather is 

 never cold. Snow has fallen once in fifty years. In summer the ther- 

 mometer is at about 85 F. for five months. In winter it averages 

 about 60 F. The hygrometric conditions are peculiar. Sometimes 

 the air is so dry as to be unpleasant, while at others it is saturated with 

 moisture. In the latter state sugar and salt, if exposed to the atmos- 

 phere, become liquid, woolens become wet and moldy, leather is 

 devoured by fungoid growth, and floors, walls, and ceilings are covered 

 with water. 



Wood shrinks considerably in the dry season, and expands rapidly 

 and powerfully in the wet season. For this rea on doors and windows 

 either rattle in their casings or are opened with great difficulty. 



GENERAL BUILDING. 



Although the housebuilder of China, especially Southern China, uses 

 brick, tile, stone, and cement in every possible manner, even going 



