296 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



red color. It is quite immune to attacks from insects. West 

 Indian cedar is soft, fragrant, and easily worked. It is most 

 extensively used for making cigar boxes, canoes, and panel- 

 ing. 



Ohia (Metrosideros polymorpha), of Hawaii, is a tall tree 

 which occurs in pure stands on the mountain slopes of Hawaii. 

 The trunks are angular and twisted, furnishing much dif- 

 ficulty in the saw mill and occasioning a large amount of 

 waste in sawing up the logs for lumber. Ohia forests are 

 particularly abundant in the Puna district of Hawaii and on 

 the windward side of Maui. A serious disease of unknown 

 origin caused the destruction of several thousand acres of 

 ohia on Maui. On the Island of Hawaii large areas of ohia 

 have been cut for the manufacture of flooring, paving blocks, 

 and railroad ties. Experiments by one of the western rail- 

 roads indicated that ohia ties were very satisfactory and 

 2,000,000 railroad ties were ordered on the strength of this 

 experiment. 



Teak wood is obtained from the well known tree Tectona 

 grandis, native of Malabar, Java, Burma, Siam, the Philip- 

 pines, and neighboring regions. This tree belongs to the 

 verbena family. It bears large, ovate leaves and racemes of 

 small white flowers. The heart wood is of a golden yellow 

 color, turning brown, and finally black with age. Teak is the 

 world's standard of ship-building timber. It is moderately 

 hard and extremely useful for all kinds of purposes. Teak is 

 the chief export of Burma and India, being used chiefly for 

 decks of steamers, backing of armor plates, house building, 

 and general carpentry work. The best teak is obtained from 

 Malabar, that obtained from Java, Burma, and Siam being 

 slightly inferior and lighter in color and weight. Teak wood 

 is of medium hardness and possesses a characteristic scent 

 which depends upon an oil in the wood. On account of the 

 enormous demand from all parts of the world for teak wood, 

 it has been found profitable to cultivate this tree as a forest 



