12 THECUBAREVIEW 



ruthlessly devastated, unless steps are taken to prevent waste and injudicious cutting and logging. 

 It is much to be hoped that a thorough investigation of the Cuban forests will soon be made 

 under the direction of technical foresters, for it is very important that the cutting, which will 

 take place during the next decade, be carried out upon some regular system which will permit 

 the young trees of deshable species to grow up and replace those cut down. The critical period 

 has already arrived in respect to some species, for there are a number of wood users in the 

 United States who are seeking other woods in place of mahogany and cedar, which are difficult 

 to obtain in right sizes and at moderate prices. 



The exploitation of timber in Cuba is even more wasteful than it was in this country in the 

 past. The logger has absolutely no interest in the future growth of timber on the cut-over 

 land. It is very essential that Cuba should conserve its valuable timber supply. In fact, 

 it is almost as vital to the people of the United States to have the timber preserved in Cuba, 

 as it is within her own limits, for she has l)een drawing timber from these virgin forests for more 

 than two hundred years and will be obliged to depend upon them for all time to come. The 

 United States depends upon Cuba for a large part of the timber which can not be grown in 

 tliis country. Mahogany, cedar, lignum vitae, ebony, fustic, logwood, are the standard woods 

 that have l^een ex]3loited in Cuba for many years and brought to this country. These are in- 

 dispensable to American wood users, and it is important that a constant supply is made available. 



The logging season in Cuba extends from November to March, when the cool and dry season 

 prevails. During this period the bulk of the timber is cut. The native woodsmen have almost 

 no idea of the value of the trees they are cutting or of the associated species, and the forests 

 which are nearest to the water courses and easiest to cut are repeatedly culled, taking out the 

 best timber and allowing the inferior species to occupy their places. Should this practice be con- 

 tinued, it is certain that in the next two decades the forests will greatly diminish in value. 

 Very little is at present known in regard to the rate of growth and requirements of these tropi- 

 cal trees. A number of timber cruisers from the United States have sm-veyed portions of the 

 great virgin forests of Cuba, but they are usually in search of only one or two kinds of timbers, 

 and they are invariably ignorant as to the majority of the other trees, many of which yield very 

 valuable timber. 



Dr. Juan T. Roig, chief of the Botanical Department of the Cuban Government, has pub- 

 hshed a book entitled "Flora deCuba," in which he enumerates over 250 species of trees growing 

 on the island. A good many of these occur in some parts of Cuba as mere shiiibs and have at 

 least at present no commercial value. Among the 250 or more kinds of trees, there are a num- 

 ber, besides the few standard timbers, that can be profital)ly exploited and used in place of 

 those which are now rapidly diminisliing in supply. Many good and serviceable timber trees 

 can be discovered which many be cut, together with the well-known kinds, for there is always a 

 market for good woods. The need of finding a market for other woods besides those that are 

 already commercially established is accentuated by the uneven distribution of the species in 

 the forest. When only two or three species are sought by the exploiters and the trees are so 

 widely scattered, as in the case of the cedar, only one of which can, on an average, be found 

 on every 3 or 4 acres, the cost of the operation must, necessarily, be relatively liigh and the 

 profits rather small. 



Dr. B. E. Fernow, in his report on the Forests of the high Sierra Maestra, published in the 

 Forestry Quarterly, December, 1906, states that the worst featm'e in the Cuban forest is the un- 

 even distribution of the species and the present lack of market for a large number, which are 

 probably not only as valuable as those marketed, but could be readily substituted for them 

 without damage to any one. By classifying the woods as regards color and qualities, and grad- 

 ing them as to these rather than as to name, just as is done with the southern pines, he thinks 

 the difficulties of logging and marketing the man}'- varieties of Cuban woods might be greatly 

 reduced. Many of them are fancy cabinet woods and the exploiters can do a great deal in 

 influencing arcliitects and wood users to recommend and to use theii" different timbers which 

 could be pro\'ided cheaper than if only two or three Idnds scattered over a vast area are cut 

 and brought to market. 



The exportation of Cuban timbers has greatly increased during recent j-ears, and it is 

 believed that it will continue to increase. The value of the total annual export of the products 

 of the forest from Cuba into the United States aggregates to about one and a quarter million 



