FORESTS OF POETO EICO. 



41 



cubic feet per capita. 1 The raw materials for the manufacture of 

 furniture and novelties, native carts, ox yokes, and the like, also 

 railroad ties, for narrow-gauge roads principally, posts and heavy 

 structural timbers, in the aggregate probably amount to less than 

 1 cubic foot per capita. 



Probably not less than 11,180,000 cubic feet (133,892 cords), 

 equivalent to 10 cubic feet per capita, is consumed for domestic 

 purposes. This means that an average family of five persons con- 

 sumes only a little more than half a cord of wood each year. The 

 demand for house piling, rafters, flooring, and the like is at the 

 present time inconsiderable — not more than 2 cubic feet per capita 

 (2,236,000 cubic feet) — because of the great scarcity of wood over 

 most of the island and the prevailing low standard of living, especially 

 among the rural population. 



The various present demands for wood, aside from the manufac- 

 tures of wood, may thus be summarized: 



Character of de- 

 mand. 



Source of supply and uses. 



Per capita. 



Total. 



Commercial. 

 Domestic . . . 



Imports, building material, etc 



Local, fuel only 



Local, fuel 



House pilings, and poles, posts, etc 



Total 



Net total, excluding imports 



Cubic feet. 

 8.2 

 3.25 

 10.00 

 2.00 



Cubic feet. 

 9,147,589 

 3,633,336 



11,180,000 

 2,236,000 



23.45 

 15.25 



26,196,925 

 17,049,336 



Note.— The domestic demand is entirely an estimate; the commercial demand is based on the census 

 and customs reports for 1910 and 1911, respectively. 



The present status of the supply and demand is graphically repre- 

 sented in figure 7, which shows that the present per capita supply, 

 at the rate it is now being consumed, will be exhausted in about 12 

 years. Yet at the present rate of production it will require more 

 than 45 years to produce a similar supply, or nearly four times as 



i Manufactures, Porto Rico; Bulletin of the Thirteenth Census, 1910: "Closely related to the question 

 of kind of power employed is that of the fuel used in generating this power. * * * Porto Rico has no 

 mineral fuel, and its wood supply is being depleted as manufactures increase. The following table shows 

 the quantity of each kind of fuel used in 1909." 



Industry. 



Anthra- 

 cite coal. 



Bitumi- 

 nous coal. 



Coke. 



Wood. 



Oil, 

 includ- 

 ing gaso- 

 line. 



Others. 





Tons. 

 946 



Tons. 

 41,988 



Tons. 

 368 



Cords. 

 43,513 



Barrels. 

 1,036 



Tons. 

 520 







Bread and other bakery products 



5 

 128 

 200 





6 

 234 



13, 444 



2,846 



737 



19,656 



75 

 33 







1.293 



2, 712 



31, 808 



790 



5,385 













365 



17 



546 



275 



Tobacco manufactures 











613 



128 



6,830 



245 







