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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Had any one observed the result of my experiment my 

 neck was literally not worth a pinch of snuflf; after a 

 few minutes of passionate expostulation, I should have 

 been run up to a convenient bough. 



To die for faction is a common evil ; 



But to be hanged for nonsense is the devil. 

 I have run repeatedly, but never as I ran that day. At 

 night I went out of town, and there was my own particu- 

 lar fire, quite distinct from the other, and burning as I 

 thought with even greater vigor." 



Had Stevenson in the present unromantic day under- 

 taken by similar means to satisfy his curiosity, he would 

 doubtless have been shadowed to his lair by some efficient 

 member of the Arson Squad, hailed into justice court, and 

 very properly fined ten dollars and cost, with a stern 

 warning thrown in. Cheap experience at such cost, we 

 may reflect after reading again his entertaining account 

 of the episode. Doubtless the sternest forest guardian, 

 if he will read Stevenson, can forgive him his rash ex- 

 periment with fire, in return for his interesting account of 

 the incident. 



lyrOTING the picture of a cluster of 19 pitch-pine 

 ' " cones in the August issue of American Forestry, 

 Mr. William L. Worcester, of Intervale, New Hampshire, 

 writes that he has had for many years as a curiosity a 

 similar cluster of pitch pine cones containing thirty-two 

 cones, found in his neighborhood long ago. 



DIRECTORS STUDYING FORESTRY CONDITIONS 



Dr. Henry S. Drinker (side view) and Charles F. Quincy, direc- 

 tors of the American Forestry Association and members of the 

 Forestry Committee of the Chamber of Commerce of the United 

 States investigating forestry conditions in the Pacific Coast 

 Douglas fir forests. 



MAHOGANY 



BY JOHN J. BIRCH, 



'T' HERE is perhaps no wood more cherished for cabinet 

 * purposes than mahogany. Its fine tracery of dark 

 and light brown lines, which become more and more pro- 

 nounced with age and polishing, together with its free- 

 dom from warping or twisting in seasoning, has given it 

 the high place which it occupies among furniture woods. 

 It is a native of the tropics. Contrary to the prevalent 

 belief it does not grow in great forests; but is sparsely 

 scattered through the tropical jungles. A bulletin of the 

 National Union of the American Republics states : "There 

 is no such thing as a forest of mahogany. The pine 

 loves its own kind, and never thrives better than when 

 planted by nature or by man, one tree next to the other, 

 for mile after mile, on plain or mountain. Other trees are- 

 found in groves or clumps, seeming to form little settle- 

 ments within the woods. The mahogany tree, however, 

 lives by and for itself alone; standing solitary of its 

 species, surrounded by the smaller trees and dense un- 

 dergrowth of the tropical forests, rearing its head over 

 its neighbor." Very often only one or two trees may be 

 found per acre. 



The personnel of a mahogany lumbering outfit is the 

 same in many respects as a lumber camp in any American 

 forest, save for minor details. Belize, in British Hon- 

 duras, is the chief exporting city for mahogany, and for 

 that reason most of the outfits are made up from there. 



The methods used in harvesting are exceedingly primi- 

 tive, inefficient and relatively expensive. The cutting 

 begins in the mid-summer, which is the rainy season. 

 The tree hunter, or the one whose duty it is to locate the 

 tree, is by far the most important man in the outfit. His 

 first move is to pick out some elevated point and climb 

 the highest tree and from there locate the mahogany. 

 This is a comparatively easy matter, for at this season 

 of the year the leaves of the mahogany have turned 

 a reddish yellow hue, while the other trees are green, 

 thus making a decided contrast, visible for a long dis- 

 tance. After having carefully noted his bearings, he pro- 

 ceeds to locate the trees. This is by no means an easy 

 task, for in most places the underbrush is so dense that 

 it is necessary to actually chop one's way through. 



The trees are large and spreading with pinnate, shiny 

 leaves. They range anywhere from fifty to one hundred 

 feet high and are from ten to twenty-five feet in circum- 

 ference at the base, depending on their age. It is the 

 custom to build a platform, some eight or ten feet high, 

 around the largest of the trees for the reason that the 

 trunks are greatly enlarged at the ground. But by so 

 doing, a great deal of the most valuable wood is lost, 

 for it is here that the most beautiful graining and tough- 

 est timber is found. In felling, great care is taken so that 

 the logs will not split or break. The trees are then cut into 



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