562 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Underwood and Undcr-ik'ood 



THE LITTLE SAWMILL OF BIG ACHIEVEMENT 

 The little Wallace sawmill, which cut over 200.000 feet of the finest mahogany lumber for 

 the manufacture of airplanes in the United States. This mill was run through the rainy 

 season, at a time when all other mills 

 jn that land of manana take a long 

 rest. Wallace went into the Guate- 

 mala jungle with only two or three 

 white men to help him set up a little 

 sawmill, hired a crew of natives and 

 got to work. 



upland soils, especially toward 

 the northern limits of its natu- 

 ral range, Mexican mahogany 

 makes a slow growth. In good 

 soil it grows rapidly into trees 

 of noble proportions. Its pres- 

 ence is usually an evidence of 

 good soil, and in Mexico it is 

 often referred to as a "witness 

 tree," being regarded as a "wit- 

 ness" to good soil. The ideal 

 conditions for its growth are 

 found in the rich, moist soil of 

 bottom lands or on fertile hill- 

 sides. A calcareous soil or a 

 sandy loam, containing a large 

 quantity of humus, overlying a 

 deep subsoil of gravel and- a 

 water table in which the long 

 tap-roots can find a normal sup- 

 ply of moisture, furnishes the 

 best conditions for mahogany 

 growth. Under such conditions 

 the rate of growth is fairly rapid 



, . . , Uuditu'ood and Vndcrzvood 



and is contmued up to a mature A HUGE LOG ON THE WAV TO TH 



aee In e-ood sitintions indi- Logging in Guatemala for mahogany lumber. The crew had to 

 ige. in gooa suuations mai- '> ^^f j^^l^^ ^^^^ j^ g^j jj^j^ ^-^^ ^^^^ jo the 



vidual trees have made a diame- 

 ter growth of nearly an inch a 

 year, but under average condi- 

 tions an increase of three-eighths 

 to one-half is all that can be ex- 

 pected and linnber of good 

 merchantable quality will be 

 procured in from forty to sixty 

 years. 



The trees are very easily 

 ])lanted. Seeds may be gathered 

 or purchased in southern Mexico 

 or British Honduras and plant- 

 ed in beds during June and July. 

 When the young trees are one, 

 two, or three years old, they are 

 set out in rows ten by twenty 

 feet. They grow readily and 

 need very little care and no cul- 

 tivation. While success is possi- 

 ble without any further attention 

 in many cases it is far safer 

 to keep down tall weeds and 

 any other plants immediately 

 surrounding the young trees for 

 the first two or three years so 

 as to give them a good start. 



E NH],L 



work two days with a team 

 mills. 



