AMERICAN FORESTRY 



species, possibly FuracceY Also of 

 great importance are Apitong (Diptero- 

 carpus Grandiflonis) and Tanguile 

 (Shorea Polyspcnna), the former be- 

 ing found in groups on almost all situ- 

 ations up to about 2,500 feet, the latter 

 as scattered individuals above 700 feet 

 elevation. 



In addition to these, there is Bagtican 

 Lavan (Par ashore a P lie at a) and White 

 Lavan (Pcntacina Contorta, also called 

 Shorea Contorta}, neither of which oc- 

 curs in large enough quantities to be of 

 much importance. These trees all grow 

 to large sizes, with great, spreading 

 buttresses, but clean and cylindrical 

 stems for great heights above the but- 

 tresses. Thus they have an excellent 

 form for sawing, and yield lumber 

 which is especially characterized by 

 the practical absence of knots. They 

 would average approximately thirty- 

 three inches in diameter above the but- 

 tresses by 100 feet or more in clear 

 length, trees of five feet in diameter 

 above the buttresses and 120 feet clear 

 hi' ing not uncommon. The average 

 volume per acre, from an estimate made 

 by the Bureau of Forestry, is 50,000 

 board-feet, of which, unfortunately, 

 about thirty-five to forty per cent is 

 unsound on account of the large num- 

 ber of over -mature trees. 



The most striking feature of the for- 

 est, from a silvicultural point of view, 

 is its uneven-aged character, with the 

 trees of different ages so evenly dis- 

 tributed that all ages would be repre- 

 sented on a sixteenth of an acre, in- 

 stead of tending to form groups, as in 

 most uneven-aged forests, except those 

 in text-books. The canopy formed is 

 complete. 



The undergrowth is chiefly creeping 

 bamboo, Bejuco (the rattan of com- 

 mcTce, and extremely useful in a hun- 

 dred different ways); an Oncasperma 

 species (a cane with spines), Pinanda 

 (a small palm), Palina Brava (Liv- 

 ingstonia Whipcordii, reaching a height 

 of sixty to seventy feet), and a num- 

 ber of other palms and canes. Al- 

 though fairly thick in places, it is no- 

 where as dense as the tropical- under- 

 growth of the popular imagination. It 



can easily be penetrated anywhere with 

 little or no cutting. 



The forest floor is almost free from 

 weeds and is covered with a very thin 

 leaf litter. There is no mat of partly 

 decomposed leaves as in a temperate 

 forest, and no layer of humus. The 

 soil (a clay, with about twenty to 

 twenty-five per cent sand), is fresh to 

 moist, and is thoroughly mixed with a 

 large proportion of humus, which keeps 

 it in excellent physical condition. 



All this is due to the extremely rapid 

 forces of decay, on account of the 

 abundant heat and moisture. Thus we 

 have a combination of factors which 

 make as perfect conditions of growth 

 as can be found anywhere in the world. 

 It is believed by the chief of the Branch 

 of Investigation that trees reach three 

 feet in diameter within less than 100 

 years in this forest. 



The principal types are briefly as fol- 

 lows : On the flats and lower slopes 

 we find chiefly Red Lavan and Almon, 

 mixed with Apitong, this last occurring 

 somewhat in groups on account of its 

 more light-demanding nature. From 

 about 800 to 2,500 feet elevation, Tan- 

 guile comes in and, though scattering, 

 is so common that it forms the key-tree 

 of the type. Red Lavan, Almon, and 

 Apitong are also abundant. On this 

 type, at about 1,800 feet, we begin to 

 get a layer of humus about an inch and 

 a half thick, just as in temperate for- 

 ests. The trees here become shorter 

 boled. 



Above 2,500 feet to about 3,000 feet, 

 we find a number of smaller, short- 

 boled, crooked trees, chiefly of the fam- 

 ily of Ericaceae, of no commercial im- 

 portance. Among them occurs the tree 

 fern, a picturesque survivor of a family 

 widely distributed in a former geolog- 

 ical period. Here we find a thick layer 

 of moss covering the forest floor. 



Above 3400 feet to the top of the 

 mountains at about 5,200 feet, prac- 

 tically the only tree is the Cypress 

 (Dacrydiitm species, belonging to the 

 Taxacecu). This is so crooked and 

 gnarled and so thickly covered, even to 

 the ends of the branches, with moss in 

 which bushes and even its own seed- 



