UNCLE SAM, LUMBERMAN, CANAL ZONE 



1267 



NOTE THE GROTESQUE SHAPES INTO WHICH THESE ALMOND TREES (ALMENDRA) HAVE BEEN BENT BY THE TROPICAL WINDS 



this species has been discontinued, the cost of saving it 

 being disproportionate to the results obtained. 



Other trees were tried, some of their lumber would split 

 open in the sun and continue the process down to near 

 the excelsior stage. Others that when fresh from the 

 saw, seemed strong, serviceable lumber, yet dried up to 

 be as soft as cork, or became as brittle as chalk. Some 

 had poison sap, some decayed within a few weeks, and 

 nearly all were attacked by borers and beetles. 



Those first days were dark days indeed, but slowly one 

 and another variety was found that stood all of the tests 

 and proud indeed was the hour when lumber, actual lum- 

 ber, fulfilling all requirements, began to pile up in the 

 yard — lumber that one could trust alone over night with- 

 out dire misgivings for the morrow. 



Three soft wood species have proven their value, but 

 these, while very beautiful and useful, are not in sufficient 

 stand to be of commercial importance ; indeed, it is diffi- 

 cult to secure all that we need for our own uses, but the 

 hard wood is a very different story. We have large 

 stands of this and they should be of the greatest impor- 

 tance to the trade. 



Lignum Vitce, generally well known, is plentiful and 

 has been supplied to the various navy yards, where 

 it has given entire satisfaction. It is a very large tree 

 and is unbelievably strong and is heavy as well, about 

 seven pounds to the board foot. The natives bring it in 

 slung under a dugout canoe in logs up to forty inches in 

 diameter and fifty feet long. 



Nispero, or bullet wood, is the local rubber tree and 

 is the wood eternal. Timbers in the old Spanish forts 

 along the coast are still sound after a century or so of 

 exposure to the weather. This wood is springy as well 



as strong and splits well. What wonderful ties it would 

 make, and this may be the eventual use of the timber, 

 for the gum hunters in their rush for rubber have girdled 

 every tree in the forest and all are dead or dying. These 

 trees will, of course, stand for many years to come and 

 may still be utilized. 



Almendra is a larger tree even than the Lignum Vitce 

 and the most plentiful hardwood in the forest. It is unex- 

 celled for fenders and heavy ship work requiring timber 

 harder and stronger than oak. Some Almendra fenders 

 were put on a heavy dredge between sections of white oak 

 by way of a test, and within three months were reported 

 as an absolute failure. This was a heavy blow to the some- 

 what friendless individual that stood sponsor for the spe- 

 cies used and great indeed was his relief when examina- 

 tion proved that the Almendra stood without a mark while 

 the white oak chafed to pieces. The crew, following the 

 usual custom, jumped to the conclusion that the native 

 species was no good. Indeed, I have found that the 

 native substitute has to be far better than the timber it 

 supplants in order to pass the willing and self-appointed 

 critics. The climate is far from kind to any wood. Oak 

 goes to pieces in about six months, sap pine in a few 

 weeks, but the casual observer does not know this and 

 judges native species with the behavior of lumber in 

 the States. There are many other valuable woods of 

 which we are learning slowly. Some day, perhaps, the 

 sum of our knowledge will enable private capital to un- 

 lock some of the vast storehouses of the interior (Gov- 

 ernment operations will doubtless be confined to the 

 Canal Zone). Heretofore the maze of worthless timber 

 and lack of definite knowledge as to what really was 

 merchantable has effectually barred the good timber 

 from a long ready market. 



