154 PHILIPPINES 



The red, almon, white and bagtican lauan and tanguile are all 

 suitable for light and medium construction work having wood 

 similar to that of yellow poplar and Douglas fir, hard pine. This 

 means that they are not durable in contact with the ground or 

 resistant to white ant attack but neither are their competitors. 

 Nevertheless, they can fill the demand in the tropics which is 

 now being met by importations of northern softwoods. Further- 

 more, the better grades are being shipped to the United States as 

 " Philippine mahogany." Apitong, altho also a dipterocarp, is 

 harder and heavier than the lauan group and tanguile. It is 

 suitable for heavy construction work where it will not be in con- 

 tact with the ground, and enters directly into competition with 

 the imported hard pine. 



The second dipterocarp type, the lauan hagachac type, occupies 

 sites similar climatically to those of the lauan type but the growth 

 conditions are less favorable because during the rainy season there 

 is an excess of soil moisture in the bottomlands which this type 

 preempts. Light construction woods like lauan and amugius 

 make up 41 per cent of the total average stand of 16,000 board 

 feet per acre while the heavier woods suitable for interior framing 

 compose 25 per cent. Among the remaining 34 per cent, narra, 

 the most common commercial wood of the Philippines and a sub- 

 stitute for mahogany and padouk, is the only one that deserves 

 special mention. It makes up 5 per cent of the total stand. 

 Summing up, 7 1 per cent of the total volume of this type finds a 

 ready sale on the local markets with the export trade compara- 

 tively undeveloped as yet. 



In the yacal-lauan type a smaller percentage of the total stand 

 is readily marketable but the stands are heavier. Of the average 

 stand of 28M feet per acre 17 per cent consists of the softer dip- 

 terocarps, 20 per cent of the harder varieties of wood suitable for 

 interior framing but not where great durability is required, and 

 20 per cent of durable woods which can be used in contact with 

 the ground and will resist white ant attacks. This type occurs on 

 volcanic soil at low elevations where the rainfall is abundant but 

 irregular. The dry season is often prolonged enough to cause the 

 fall of many of the leaves so that the type is semi-deciduous. 



