1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



175 



be growing. The rich foliage and po- 

 rous wood require a great deal of moist- 

 ure. If the tree is located in a moist 

 place, I believe it will retain its foliage 

 throughoitt the year and produce a very 

 large quantit}' of very porous wood. 

 The leaves would probably fall at fruit- 

 ing time, but often in a very irregular 

 manner. If the tree is located in a spot 

 subject to drouthy spells, as are com- 

 mon in the tropics, I have no doubt but 

 that it would drop its leaves three or 

 four times a year. 



There is a direct relationship between 

 drouth, leaf -fall, rings, and porous- 

 ness of wood in tropical countries. Al- 

 though the tropics may receive immense 

 quantities of rain in the course of a year, 

 it falls in large amounts at a time, so that 

 under the great amount of sunshine, 

 evaporation, and transpiration there are 

 many drouthy periods throughout the 

 year, varying oftentimes a ver}^ great 

 deal within a very small area. Now, 

 the Cedrela odorata to do its best should 

 have rich, moist soil, and under such 

 circumstances I believe it will produce 

 a larger quantity of excellent wood per 

 year than any other species. 



It is, how^ever, ver}^ similar to the 

 Cedrela toona of the Orient. I have 

 both species growing together under 

 glass, and the difference is slight. The 

 Red Cedar of Australia (Cedrela aus- 

 tralis) is the same as the Toon of India. 

 Baron von Mueller, who named it, said 

 afterward that it was not sufficiently 

 different from the Toon to be given a 

 distinct name. The Australian Cedrela 

 is the one which is being most exten 

 sively planted for timber purposes in 

 northern Australia. Its wood is red, 

 darkening with age; it is light, figured, 

 soft, easily worked, and very durable. 

 It is used for furniture, joinery, cabi- 

 nets, boat-building, carriage-building, 

 ceilings, door-frames, and many minor 

 purposes. 



These trees, whether from Cuba, the 

 Philippines, India, or Austria, should 

 be given first rank, from both a lumber 

 and a silvicultural standpoint. The 

 man who plants Cedrela odorata on the 

 proper kind of soil will reap, if no un- 

 or insect ravage, a handsome profit in 

 less than a quarter of a century. 



CEDREI^A ODORATA IN THE HAVANA BOTANICAI, 

 GARDEN. 



There is one species of Cedrela {C. 

 siiie)isis), the Chinese species, which 

 will grow as far north as Washington, 

 D. C. The wood is inferior to the 

 .species mentioned above, but with a 

 little .staining could be used as a counter- 

 feit or substitute. The accompanying 

 illustration shows a West Indian cedar 

 tree in the Botanical Gardens at Havana. 



Closely related to the Cedrelas is the 

 Mahogany. In the open it is wide- 

 spreading like the oak (see illustration), 

 but in the forest it is tall and stately. 

 This tree is still common in our tropics, 

 but is scattered in dense tangles and is 

 difficult to exploit. Were it not for 

 this fact it would have been exhausted 

 long ago. It is a great seed-producer 

 and a vigorous grower. There are three 

 great mahoganies throughout the world 

 which are closely related ; one is the 

 Indian Soymida febrifuoa, the other is 

 the African Kliaya senegalensis, and the 



