THE IRRIGA110N AGE, 



205 



Philippines, who are entirely satisfactory 

 in other respects. It is believed that the 

 best means of securing a competent and 

 efficient force is to employ new men and 

 train them on the ground as speedily as 

 possible. In this work Messrs. Bruce and 

 Hamilton will be able to render valuable 

 assistance. 



The Bureau was recently reorganized so 

 as to consist of an officer in charge, an 

 inspector, a botanist, chief clerk, and ste- 

 nographer a translator, a law clerk, a record 

 clerk, 10 assistant foresters and 30 rangers. 

 It is the intention of the officer in charge 

 to work up a forest service on the lines of 

 the work carried on in the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, through its Division 

 of Forestry. The wholesale destruction of 

 timber will be stopped, and the cutting 

 will proceed under regulations looking to 

 the future yields of the forests. The fire 

 question will receive close attention. 



Captain Ahern. in a recent report, calls 

 attention to several obstacles in the way of 

 immediate success in lumbering in the 

 Philippine Islands, the most serious draw- 

 backs being lack of good roads and skilled 

 labor. Forest roads and river driveways 

 are almost unknown, and present methods 

 of lumbering are slow and expensive. The 

 natives, he finds, are not skilled workmen, 



and though receiving very low wages, 

 their work is found by no means cheap 

 when one considers the cost of felling and 

 hauling a cubic foot of timber to the ship- 

 ping point. 



The forest lands of the Philippine 

 Islands, it is estimated by Captain Ahern, 

 cover 40,000 acres; larger in extent and 

 greater in value than the forests of India. 

 There are 385 species of timber-producing 

 trees, and about 50 more species as yet un- 

 classified. Included in the above list are 

 very hard woods, capable of taking a beau- 

 tiful polish: woods that resist climatic 

 influences and the attack of white ants; 

 still others that are especially suited for 

 sea-piling or for use as railroad ties. 

 There are many varities of trees producing 

 valuable gums. oils, and drugs; rubber and 

 gutta-percha are abundant in Mindanao 

 and Tawi-Tawi; while at least 17 dye-woods 

 are found within the limits of the Archi- 

 pelago. Cocoanut palms grow without 

 care or cultivation throughout the Islands. 

 There are also many varieties of palms, 

 bamboo, canes, and rattan which are of 

 commercial value and will afford profitable 

 employment to native labor. 



Mr. Bruce and Mr. Hamilton have 

 sailed from San Francisco for Manila on 

 the transport Indiana. 



