1904 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



161 



reference to the nature of the country, 

 and thirty-three feet on each side of the 

 line all trees down to eight inches were 

 calipered. At the same time notes were 

 taken upon reproduction, soil, etc. The 

 main difficulty was to find good men to 

 do the calipering, as it is requisite for 

 them to know the trees and be able to 

 read the numbers. Frequently it was 

 necessary to detail two men, one to read 

 the numbers and the other to tell the 

 tree species. Owing to this, and the 

 dense undergrowth, an average of only 

 five acres could be calipered in one day. 



For several weeks the writer had 

 Negritos for guides. These people be- 

 long to the non-christian tribes, live 

 always in the mountains and seldom de- 

 scend to the villages. They build no 

 houses and seek shelter for the night 

 under a few palms or banana leaves. 

 They are reliable guides, and are ac- 

 quainted with the native names of all 

 that moves or has its being in their 

 haunts, as well as with all trees and 

 other plants. 



Two men of the party measured the 

 height of the more important species, 

 and a young, well educated Filipino 

 made a careful collection of all the trees 



which had either flower or fruit. In 

 each case the tree was felled and a log 

 six feet long was taken to be tested in 

 the. timber-testing laboratory of the Bu- 

 reau at Manila ; logs, leaves, flowers, 

 etc. , received the same number. Ninety- 

 five different species were collected in 

 this manner ; another party, working 

 in Camarines province under Forester 

 Hagger, secured no less than one hun- 

 dred and fifty-five different species of 

 trees. 



All cutting is done with the axe, a 

 small wedge-shaped tool with a straight 

 handle. Several efforts have been made 

 to introduce the American axe, but so 

 far without result. In Baler, where the 

 natives work under American foremen, 

 modern axes are used and also crosscut 



saws. 



REPRODUCTION. 



For reproduction studies the method 

 described by Mr. Knechtel in No. 2 of 

 the Forestry Quarterly is used. Squares 

 of one-half an acre each are measured 

 off and counts are made in squares 

 eighteen feet on a side, two of these 

 smaller squares being taken in each half 

 acre. The trees are calipered down to 



FILIPINOS SAWING TIMBER. 



