12 



BULLETIN 474, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



On the island of Andros (Bahamas) it is often used for board walks 

 and other purposes requiring durability. Mahogany grows on most 

 of the West India Islands. In the early days of railroad and bridge 

 building there and in Central America the lasting qualities of ma- 

 hogany made it a favorite wood for railroad ties and bridge timbers, 

 which greatly reduced the supply. 



IMPORTATIONS. 



Previous to 1892 there is no complete record of the quantity of ma- 

 hogany shipped to the United States, nor even of the countries from 

 which mahogany was imported. Since that year, however, a record 

 has been kept by one of the large importers x of the mahogany enter- 

 ing New York from the chief centers of production. The following 

 table gives the quantities imported since 1892 from each of these 

 regions : 



Table I. — Shipments of true mahogany entering New York from 1892 to 1910, 



inclusive. 



Year. 



Cuba. 



Mexico. 



Central 

 and South 

 America. 



Total. 



1892 



Thousand 

 feet. 

 3,884 

 5,960 

 1,506 

 2,549 



451 

 94 

 92 



689 

 3,615 

 3,822 

 6,043 

 4,742 

 1,564 

 1,829 

 3,883 

 3,458 

 1,796 

 3,037 

 2,576 



Thousand 

 feet. 

 7,871 



10,941 

 3,909 

 5,818 

 6,794 

 6,202 

 9,396 



11,477 

 9,557 

 7,877 

 6,940 

 9,145 

 7,043 

 3,195 

 4,164 

 8,387 

 5,205 

 3,452 

 7,983 



Thousand 

 feet. 



Thousand 

 feet. 

 11,755 



1893 





16,901 



1894 





5,415 



1895 





8,366 

 7,244 



1896 





1897 



1,756 

 6,541 

 8,985 

 4,186 

 3,302 

 3,407 

 3,580 

 2,842 

 2,615 

 1,563 

 3,304 

 2,597 

 11, 557 

 2,128 



8,053 

 16,034 



1898 



1899 



21,150 



1900 



17,357 



1901 



15,000 



1902 



16,390 



1903 : 



17, 466 



1904 



11,448 



1905 



7,638 



1906 



9,609 



1907 



15, 149 



1908 



9,598 



1909 



18,046 



1910 



12, 686 







The logs imported from Central and South America from 1892 

 to 1896. inclusive, are included with those quoted from Mexico. 

 Fluctuations in the amounts of mahogany imported into this country 

 from one year to another can not be attributed to any particular 

 cause. Imports of 1894 to 1897, inclusive, were all low, averaging a 

 little less than 7,750,000 feet annually. During the seven years which 

 followed the annual importations averaged approximately 16,000,000 

 feet, in the banner year (1899) amounting to 21,149,750 feet. 



Since 1892 Mexico has shipped to the port of New York upward 

 of 136,000,000 feet of true mahogany, while since 1897 Central and 



1 Mr. Goo. F. Herriman, New York City. 



