PHILIPPINE FOREST WEALTH 



t 



A Modern Saw Mill. 



FIRST CLASS STEAM MILLS, THOROUGHLY UP TO DATE, ARE NOW IN OPERATION ON THE MORE IMPORTANT TIMBER CON- 

 CESSIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 



making of unauthorized caingins, or 

 forest clearings, and with motor-drawn 

 plows and disc harrows, which make 

 short work of cdgon roots. 



Unfortunately incalulable damage has 

 already been done. The great island 

 of Cebu is practically deforested and 

 extensive areas on other islands have 

 suffered a similar fate with the result 

 that in these regions firewood is scarce 

 and dear, structural timber is almost 

 unobtainable save by importation, and 

 the run-off of surface water after rain- 

 fall is altogether too rapid, so that 

 stream-beds are filled with rushing 

 torrents one week and are dry the next. 



But the damage has not ended here. 

 In cutting molave and other especially 

 valuable timbers, the Filipino has had 

 no thought for the morrow. The de- 

 sirability of leaving trees for reproduc- 

 tion has not occurred to him, and as a 

 result there are extensive areas near 

 tidewater from which the more valuable 



tree species have been practically elim- 

 inated. 



The Spaniards established a forest 

 service, known as the Inspection de 

 Montes, but its officers made little 

 attempt to stop forest destruction, 

 contenting themselves with collecting 

 revenues which were chiefly derived 

 from the timber cut and used locally 

 for house construction. 



Prior to the American occupation 

 only one sawmill which was in any 

 sense modern had been established, and 

 the most primitive lumbering methods 

 prevailed. 



The narrow bitted Malay ax was 

 used for all cutting operations. Wood 

 cutters stood on platforms high above 

 the ground in order to avoid the 

 thickenings of the trunks near the 

 roots and in consequence stumps were 

 wastefully high. In felling no effort 

 was made to avoid possible injury to 

 other trees or young growth. Logs 



