Novel Trees And Forest Products 



By S. J. Record 

 Professor of Forest Products, Yale University 



THE ROYAL PALM 



The cocoanut palm is said to be the one tree able to 

 supply everything man needs for his existence -food, 

 clothing, and shelter a rather primitive existence, to be 



sure. Not far 

 behind is the 

 royal palm or 

 palma real as 

 the Spanish 

 speaking peo- 

 ple call it. It 

 does not fur- 

 nish food for 

 man, thoug'h 

 it does for his 

 pigs, but it 

 meets so 

 many impor- 

 tant needs 

 that the na- 

 tives hold the 

 tree in the 

 highest es- 

 teem and rare- 

 ly destroy 

 one. 



To the 

 traveler i n 

 Cuba they 

 are one of the 

 most conspic- 

 u o u s and 

 beautiful fea- 

 tures of the 



A ROYAL PALM 



This fine tree, which is comparatively young, 



overlooks the harbor of Marvel, in Cuba. 



landscape. The trunks look like tall pillars of cement, 

 usually swollen at the middle, and bearing at the top a 

 giant tuft of plume-like foliage attached to the shaft with 

 a long bright green cap. The trees grow in all kinds of 

 soil from swamps to hill tops, though naturally they make 

 their best development in rich ground. They are wind- 

 firm and stable and stately avenues of them all unpro- 

 tected have endured the storms for generations without 

 a loss. Woodpeckers drill through the outer layer to 

 build their nests inside but the trees seem none the worse 

 for the damage. 



The royal palm is almost indispensable to the natives, 

 and every portion of the tree finds a use. The leaves 

 are especially useful, and cutting them from the top pf 

 the lofty trunk calls for skill and daring. The climber 



seems to think nothing of it, however, and by means of 

 two loops of rope makes his way quickly to the crown 

 and harvests his crop. 



The giant leaves consist of three parts, the basal sheath, 

 the thick flattened stems, and the plume-like blade. The 

 latter supply the roofing material with which the poorer 

 classes in country and small villages thatch their houses 

 and barns. The leaves are also made into fences, and 

 serve as shade over the tobacco fields. Large quantities 

 are used in closing the ends of the bags filled with char- 

 coal, the all-important domestic fuel in the cities. 



The leaf stems make good fire wood. The sheath or 

 yagua, in the vernacular, is large and flexible like leather, 

 and fills many uses. It is the universal siding for the 

 thatched hut set on end and held in place by means of 

 horizontal wooden cleats or poles tied to the house posts. 

 The yagua is the farmer's wrapping paper and tobacco 

 is bundled in it. It can be folded up like birch bark 

 into receptacles for washing clothes, boiling water and 

 cooking. The inner surface is covered with a thin white 

 layer like parchment which can be peeled off in large 

 flakes and used for writing paper or for rolling 

 cigarettes. 



The fruit is a small hard nut borne in clusters. There 

 are three stages from the flower to the ripe fruit on the 

 tree at a time. The clusters of mature fruit are gathered, 



Fliotograph by S. J. , Record 



A CUBAN FARM HOUSE 



This home of a small farmer in Cuba is built entirely from ma- 

 terial supplied by the big Royal Palm Tree in the background. 



