The Conversion and Characteristics of Colony Timber. 295 



A " sling punt,' r 40ft. long with a breadth of 9ft. and depth of 5ft , 

 can carry with comparative ease from 4,000 to 4,500 cubic feet hewn 

 greenheart logs, equal, respectively, to 143 and 160 tons at 28 cubic feet 

 to the ton, if slung in the manner usually adopted. This seems marvellous 

 for a craft of the dimensions mentioned, but it will doubtless be remem- 

 bered that the weight of the timber is considerably different in water 

 than in air. The method of slinging timber on a punt was recently fully 

 described in the article on ' ; The Timbers of British Guiana ,; published 

 in the " West India Committee Circular." 



It would be an absolute impossibility to load and stow the quantity 

 of greenheart mentioned, if converted into planks, boards or scantlings, 

 in a craft of the size referred to. 



Transport charges on greenheart from river landing to a saw-mill in 

 town range from 2 cents to 3 cents per cubic foot, dependent, of course, 

 upon distance to be carried, and these figures also include the conveyance 

 of the empty craft to the wood-cutting tract. The rates for freighting 

 sawn greenheart timber by sailing craft or the coastal steamers are 

 respectively 4 cents and 6 cents per cubic foot. For crabwood and other 

 lumber of lighter grades the freight rates are S3 and $4 per thousand feet 

 board measure, equal to nearly 3f cents per cubic foot. Crabwood and 

 the lighter timbers which float are made up into rafts, and are transported 

 down rivers at much smaller cost than greenheart. It will thus be seen 

 that it is far more economical to transport raw material than is the case 

 with the manufactured. 



The up-country erected mill has the advantage, for a short time, of 

 having but little transportation of raw material, but it is faced with costly 

 transport of the finished product. In any case even if the finished article 

 is offered for sale at the mill the purchaser must of necessity offer so 

 much less to cover transport charges and loss in handling. Although the 

 mill may be well situated at tidal water and convenient for ocean-going or 

 other craft to load at the wharf for an export trade, one's trouble 

 commences after cutting and accumulating grades of quality too poor for 

 export but too good for the furnace, which it would not pay to transport 

 to either of the towns for sale. Then, if not used as fuel, the destructive 

 wood ants soon play havoc with the piles of softer woods. 



Portable Saw Plant. 

 In view of the possibility of extensive constructional work in the 

 interior consequent on the construction of railways and existing costly 

 transport conditions, the first impression that strikes one is that portable 

 sawing machinery should be installed for forest use. With the numerous 

 waterways traversing our magnificent timber forests a pontoon with the 

 necessary saw plant suggests itself in preference to a mule or ox-drawn 

 vehicle. The latter type of portable plant, owing to its weight, does not 

 readily lend itself to surmount the conditions and difficulties of the present 

 accessible timber forest on the upper reaches of the rivers and creeks, in 

 the swamps and marshy ground frequently encountered. The important 



