TIMBER VALUES I 59 



a navigable stream. Even then small steamers or sailing vessels 

 must be relied upon which are not built specially for this kind of 

 cargo. In the Philippines the cost varied from $5 to $30 per M, 

 while an operation in Brazil marketing its product in Buenos 

 Ayres had a charge of $20 per M to meet in 191 5. 



Sale values in the wholesale markets may be illustrated by the 

 prices paid in Manila in 1910 when the softer, non-durable con- 

 struction woods like the dipterocarps were selling for $25 to $30 

 per M, hard durable timbers from $75 to $100, and the cabinet 

 woods from $80 to $1 50. These prices would give ample margins, 

 especially in the case of the cabinet woods, if there were no acci- 

 dents, but the two Umiting factors of primitive logging methods 

 and poor transportation to market generally cut down the aver- 

 age margin to less than $10 per M. 



In conclusion Dr. Whitford's words (Bulletin 10, The Forests 

 of the Philippines, Part I) may be used to give a bird's-eye view 

 of the situation because they apply to all kinds of tropical lum- 

 bering: — 



" To sum up, the high cost of placing the timber of the Philip- 

 pines on the market is due to the following causes: (i) The 

 high cost of logging, due principally to the crude methods em- 

 ployed and to lack of proper supervision; (2) the excessive 

 cost of milling, due to (a) insufficient equipment and poor 

 arrangement of the mill, (b) to the difficulty of getting compe- 

 tent men to manage the operations, and (c) to a consequent loss 

 in sawing due to excessive waste and poorly manufactured 

 material; (3) as yet no company has a capacity sufficient to 

 warrant their owning or hiring vessels especially adapted to 

 carrying lumber to the home or foreign markets. The condi- 

 tions above described are distinctly pioneer in nature. A few 

 companies have successfully met some of them, but none have 

 as yet succeeded in meeting the entire situation. When they 

 do, they will be able to compete with all other timbers of like 

 grades in the foreign and home markets." 



Besides the value of the Philippine forests for the production 

 of lumber a number of other special products are obtained from 

 them. Fuel purposes, for example, actually consume a larger 



