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THE FORESTER. 



December, 



Regular meetings will be held more or 

 less frequently throughout the winter, at 

 which papers will be read and discussed. 

 Some of these meetings will be open to all 

 who are interested in forestry ; others will 

 be closed to all but members of the Society. 



The fact that there are now enough peo- 

 ple in the country who have had technical 

 training and experience in foresty to feel 

 that they need a formally appointed meet- 

 ing ground, is significant of the growth of 

 interest in the subject. 



The Philippine On A P ril H. 

 Bureau of tary governor in the Pnihp- 



Forestry. pines placed Captain George 



P. Ahern, 9th U. S. Infantry in charge 

 of the Forestry Bureau at Manila. The 

 reports which have been received from 

 Captain Ahern, outline briefly what the 

 Forestry Bureau has done, and what Cap- 

 tain Ahern's program is. 



From various sources of information it 

 appears that the public forest lands com- 

 prise from one-fourth to possibly one-half 

 of the area of the islands or from twenty 

 to forty million acres. In the country 

 close to Manila much timber has been cut, 

 but in other parts of the island of Luzon, 

 and other islands, there has been very lit- 

 tle lumbering. In the forest regulations 

 three hundred and ninety-six tree species 

 are mentioned, and Capt. Ahern says that 

 it is safe to state that the total number of 

 tree species is nearer five hundred than 

 four hundred and fifty, the great majority 

 being probably hardwoods. There are 

 many valuable Gum, Rubber, and Gutta 

 Percha trees, but owing to adulteration and 

 fraudulent practices the trade in these is 

 in a bad condition. The Bureau knows 

 of seventeen dye woods which, if properly 

 exploited, should yield enough revenue to 

 pay the cost of the forest service. There 

 are probably many trees possessing valu- 

 able medicinal qualities. The blossoms 

 of the Viang Ylang tree, which is very 

 common, produce an oil which is the basis 

 of many renowned perfumes. In all parts 

 of the southern islands Cocoanut Palms, 

 which yield a yearly revenue of from $i to 

 $2 per tree, grow without any effort of care. 



At present a great obstacle to the proper 



use and care of these forests is the almost 

 total lack of roads and river driveways, 

 worth mentioning. The lumber methods 

 in the island are also rudimentary and un- 

 practical. The Philippines seem to have 

 followed their own customs almost entirely, 

 and the Spaniards to have done but little 

 with the lumber business. 



Captain Ahern's first task was to 

 straighten out the records of the former 

 Spanish Bureau, and to get the office into 

 working order again. It was found that 

 the records were very scanty, and that 

 under Spanish rule the forest service had 

 done little except collect the tax where 

 lumber was cut. There had been almost 

 no attempt to enforce regulations, nor any 

 observance of system in cutting on public 

 lands. The old regulations have been re- 

 vised and in some details altered. 



As the regulations now stand they 

 classify the timber of the islands into six 

 groups, and, using as a unit of measure a 

 cubic foot, prescribe a tariff on each of the 

 six groups as follows : 



Superior Group 14 cents per cubic foot. 



First 10 cents per cubic foot. 



Second 

 Third 

 Fourth 

 Fifth 



The State sells its trees standing, and ex- 

 cludes the bark in measuring the trees. 

 In the first groups are the Ebony, 

 Mahogany, Teak and other valuable tim- 

 ber species. The woods of groups, 3, 4, 

 and 5 only, may be cut for fuel. The 

 regulations next proceed, after giving a 

 list of the different trees under each group, 

 to specify rules .for (i)the utilization of 

 timber in the forests, (2) the gratuitous 

 use of State timber, (3) cutting of firewood 

 for the market, (4) the procuring of 

 Caoutchouc, Gum Arabic, Gutta Percha, 

 etc., etc. ; (5) the obtaining of licenses, etc. 

 The present employees of the Forestry 

 Bureau have not been well trained; the 

 public lands are unsurveyed ; and the 

 amount of standing timber is unknown. 

 The success of the Bureau's work de- 

 pends, of course, largely on its personnel. 

 Men who are acquainted with the country, 

 people, language, and with the conditions 

 which existed under the Spanish govern- 



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