THE CUBA R E ^' 1 E W 15 



But the tremendous increase in cane planting tliat lias talceu place in the east has 

 also been the cause of the deforestation of vast areas, and in this work, of course, 

 all forest life was destroyed, and it was the order of the day to use that which could 

 be saved before the passage of the fires that eifected the final transportation from 

 forest to field. In this period, everything of any size that could be used was taken 

 out if the haulage cost was not so great as to offset its value. Mahogany was found 

 in great quantities in most of the lands that were thus being prepared for planting, 

 and it actually became a drug on the market, selling down as low as $28.00 per thousand 

 feet in the round log alongside of the track ; while cedar, that most useful and most 

 easily worked of all Cuban woods, was only slightly better off. These prices compare 

 with those today of about $125.00 per thousand, f. o. b. cars, Havana, for mahogany, 

 and $10.00 more for cedar. 



The hardwoods of Cuba can conveniently be divided into two general classes in 

 relation to their utilization : Export woods, and those whose use is practically con- 

 fined to the Island. To the first class belong mahogany, cedar, lignum vitae, lance 

 wood, and a few others of minor importance shipped occasionally when special orders 

 are received for them ; v/hile in the latter fall the great army of hardwoods, pretty 

 well known to all timlier users of the entire Island, though some of them are so 

 scarce as to prohibit their being known beyond the narrow limits where they are 

 found. We will consider these two classes, indicating their general characteristics, 

 the use to which they are put, and the parts of the Island Avliere they are or have 

 been found. 



Of greatest importance of all is mahogany. This importance is derived from its 

 being almost universally known and esteemed as a wood of fine texture, good size, 

 beautiful grain and capable of taking a brilliant polish. It lends itself for almost all 

 uses to which a hardwood can be put, as it can be made into excellent veneer, and is 

 practically insect and climate proof; but doubtless the most extensive use made of it 

 is for fine interior finishings and high-class furniture. It is very heavy, and rather 

 difficult to work with the ordinary hand carpenter tools, so that it is not in as great 

 favor among local carpenters as is the soft, easily handled cedar. 



Cuban mahogany is usually divided in two classes, although for export no dis- 

 tinction is made. The difference between the two woods is solely the result of the 

 soil and other conditions under which they grow. From the ricn lowlands of the 

 coast, and some flat lowlands of the interior, comes a mahogany that is light in weight, 

 rather open in texture, much lighter in color, and capable of taking only a relatively 

 good polish, as compared with the slow growing, dense wood of the poorer and higher 

 forest areas where growth has been slow and the tree has had to struggle for its 

 existence. For domestic uses, especially where the timber will come in contact with 

 the soil, distinction is always made between these two woods, as the former will rot 

 in a very few years. Occasionally in both classes of tree is found what is known 

 as bird's-eye mahogany, in which the whole log is marked with little indentations that 

 inside the bark take the form of small false knots, around which the grain of the 

 wood swings in beautiful curves and corners. Timber of this nature is rare, and on 

 account of its extreme beauty when polished, commands a very high price. It has 

 been the writer's luck to have seen only a very few logs of this class during his 

 rather long acquaintance with Cuba's forests. 



For domestic purposes, the mahogany, is used in such freedom that It seems 

 sacrilege to the newcomer from the North, who has known this wood only in its fin- 

 ished and very expensive forms. Many hundreds of cords of this timber, ranging 

 from 12 inches in diameter down, are annually burned under the boilers of our sugar 

 mills and locomotives; hundreds of fine trees of the proper sizes are annually cut 

 down and rough-hewed into railroad ties ; and for posts, corral fences, and the myriad 

 other uses of the plantation, mahogany is utilized. There will come a day not very 

 far distant when the waste of this valuable timber will be regretted, and when the 

 plantation owners in the areas of the Island where forests are still relatively plentiful 



