"REPORT OF FORESTRY BUREAU, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 11 



and in order to divert their attention to the woods of the Philippines 

 100 varieties of specially selected woods were recently gathered 

 together and shipped to the United States, where they will be placed 

 on exhibition at Buffalo, and later at the Department of Agriculture 

 in Washington. 



Anyone acquainted with American methods of lumbering, and espe- 

 cially anyone from the lake regions of the United States, will realize 

 that'if every tree for felling is not selected and rigid supervision of 

 all logging operations not insisted upon, great and irremediable loss* 

 will result. Rigid supervision is indispensable and is only possible 

 when thoroughly trained scientific men are employed. The existing 

 regulations provide ample safeguards against forest devastation, but 

 the immediate need is for a trained corps of foresters to properly 

 enforce these regulations. 



A forestry school should be organized as soon as possible, and the 

 first foresters employed should give part of their time to the training 

 of native officials now in the service. In time specially qualified gradu- 

 ates from colleges in the Philippines should be offered inducements to 

 enter the forestry school and thus provide for the extension of the 

 service. 



REGULATIONS. 



The Spanish forestry laws and regulations in force in August, 1898, 

 were found to be excellent, practicable, and in line with similar laws 

 and regulations of Europe, where the science of forestry has reached 

 such a high state of perfection. These laws and regulations, up to the 

 time of our occupation, had not been fully enforced and scientific for- 

 estry not practiced, as the records and testimony of officials show. 



Under the Spanish administration licensees cut any and everything. 

 Trees to be felled were not selected, no minimum size was prescribed, 

 valuable rubber and gutta-percha trees were felled, and the most val- 

 uable woods used as firewood; in fact the officials began their work 

 after the trees left the forest and not before. 



The Spanish forestry regulations were translated and a new set 

 compiled, based practically upon the old, but arranged in more com- 

 pact form. Some changes were made, as will be noted below. Blank 

 forms similar to the old are used, with some additions, nearly all of 

 which are printed in Spanish with English notes. The regulations 

 went into effect July 1, 1900, and were published in the form of a gen- 

 eral order (No. 92) from the office of the United States military gov- 

 ernor of the Philippine Islands, dated Manila, P. I., June 27, 1900. 

 These regulations have not been amended since publication. 



As soon as peace is thoroughly established in the islands and officials 

 can work in the field without danger, data will be secured upon which 

 to base a revision of the present regulations. However, the regula- 

 tions as enforced at present seem to give general satisfaction. Several 

 thousand copies were printed, both in Spanish and English, and sent 

 to every part of the islands. At least one copy is sent with each license, 

 and the attention of the licensee is drawn to the fact that the regula- 

 tions must be followed. 



These regulations consist of 77 articles arranged in 5 chapters. 

 Chapter 1 is entitled ' ' Tariff on state timber and instructions for its 

 application." In this chapter we find the tree species of the islands 



