IX, A, 6 Brown and Mathews: Dipterocarp Forests 459 



These second-growth forests must, therefore, have developed 

 when the boho could not enter the area. Such a condition is 

 easily imagined, as the ground might have been cleared during 

 a period when the boho was not seeding and at such a distance 

 from the latter that there was a forest barrier between them. 

 It is also possible that the boho did not have sufficient time to 

 grow into the area before the second-gro^vth forest had already 

 developed. 



Whitford "^ has described the mature bamboo forest in con- 

 siderable detail. He regarded it as a climax association, and 

 believed that its composition would remain the same as at 

 present, unless some of the constituents were artificially removed. 

 The bamboo forest when once developed certainly seems to 

 be very stable. It produces a dense enough shade to prevent 

 the development of second-growth trees, while the conditions 

 within it are apparently not favorable for the growth of shade- 

 enduring species. It is evident that when the bamboo can enter 

 a cut-over area it will replace the original dipterocarp forest, 

 and it is probable that all of the bamboo forests in the Bataan 

 region as well as in other parts of the Philippines originated 

 as the result of clearing off the original vegetation. Since the 

 forests of boho are second growth in character, it seems probable 

 that in the course of time they would be replaced by the original 

 dipterocarp type if the influence of man were removed. The 

 stages by which this would take place are not evident, but 

 since there is little chance of trees seeding in the boho forest 

 to any great extent this process would, probably, take several 

 centuries. From the standpoint of practical forestry it may 

 be said that in the area here described the dipterocarp forest 

 has been completely and permanently destroyed. 



Boho occurs in cut-over regions throughout Bataan, and plays 

 an important part in the vegetation of such areas, although, as 

 pointed out, forests of second-growth trees may be developed 

 under certain conditions. The boho is of more value commer- 

 cially than the tree species. It is a thin-walled bamboo, the 

 stems of which are split, flattened, and woven into a kind of 

 matting, known locally as sawale, which is much used for walls 

 of dwellings. It also offers possibilities in the manufacture of 

 paper.^'* 



Seedlings of Pentacme contorta are springing up and surviv- 



"This Journal (1906), 1, 384. 



"" Richmond, G. R., Philippine fibers and fibrous substances : their suit- 

 ability for paper making (part 11), This Journal (1906), 1, 1075-1085. 



