66 THE FOREST RESOURCES OF THE WORLD. 



While at present South America imports some timber, it is hardly 

 to be expected that these imports will greatly increase in the future. 



On the contrary, they will probably decrease, as the forests become 

 opened up and are made more accessible. 



WEST INDIES. 



Semler takes a very gloomy view of forest conditions hi the West 

 Indies. He thinks that on the whole the West Indies present a sad 

 picture of forest destruction. The small islands are robbed of their 

 former forest wealth ; and the large ones, like Jamaica, San Domingo, 

 and Cuba, have only remnants. What little is left is almost entirely 

 in the hands of private individuals, and nothing is done for the 

 preservation of the forests. 



John T. Rea, a who lived for four years in the West Indies, takes a 

 more optimistic view of the situation, and since his observations are 

 more recent and many of them are original they are apparently more 

 trustworthy than Sender's. According to Rea's statement, two-thirds 

 of most of the West Indian islands are still in virgin brush and forest, 

 which are capable of yielding a plentiful supply of good material. 

 Thus the Layon and Sara flats, or crown lands of Dominica, have an 

 area of 40 square miles, and contain a mine of wealth in timber. In 

 Trinidad, he estimates that there are at least 300,000 acres of forest 

 land. 



The total area of the West Indies is about 100,000 square miles. 

 The trees on the whole are not very large, and yield as a rule only 

 small scantlings. Some of the woods are useful for building and 

 engineering work, but they are valuable principally for furniture, 

 paneling, cabinet, and other fancy work. The immense variety of 

 small articles, such as knife handles, knobs, buttons, etc., which are 

 now manufactured from choice grained woods, opens a ready market 

 for many West Indian timbers, the beauty of which can not be sur- 

 passed. Gum and resin yielding trees abound, and commercially 

 valuable fibers may be stripped from quite a number of them. The 

 bark, leaves, and berries of others furnish well-known drugs, dyes, 

 and spices. Owing to the fact that all the best timber is in the 

 inland forests with few convenient rivers for floating it down, and 

 owincj also to the defective character of the means of communication 

 and the absence of sawmills and machinery for their treatment, the 

 native woods have until lately been available only in small quantities. 

 Circular and other rapid saws have been added to the plant of most 

 of the public work yards, so that some of the disadvantages have 

 been overcome. 



Little definite information is to be had concerning the forest area 

 of Cuba. It probably does not exceed 5,000,000 or 6,000,000 acres, 

 which, with a population of 2,050,000, makes the area per capita 

 about 3 acres, and constitutes about 20 per cent of the total land area. 

 Such an area with the small local demand for wood, if the forests 

 are properly managed and cared for, certainly ought to furnish a 

 sufficient supply for home consumption. Unfortunately, however, 

 the forests olo not contain the kinds of timber needed for most pur- 

 poses, and hence large quantities are imported annually. 



a The Indian Forester, Dec., 1902, p. 44a, "West Indian Timbers," 



