8 GREENHEART. 
Transportation facilities in the forests of British Guiana are at 
present exceedingly crude. Only the more accessible parts of the 
forests in which the choicest greenheart timber is found have as yet 
been exploited. Besides greenheart, only a few of the better-known: 
timbers, such as wallaba and more recently crabwood (Carapa guia- 
nensis Aubl.), have been taken. These timbers have been cut along 
all the principal waterways as far upstream as the falls and rapids 
which obstruct navigation. The vast and valuable forests of green- 
heart above the falls are still to be opened up. To exploit the re- 
maining stands of greenheart in British Guiana will, however, re- 
quire much time and laber. As the vast resources of the country 
become better known efficient means of transportation to the un- 
touched forest areas in the interior will no doubt be provided. 
When greenheart was first exploited $1 per cubic foot was the price 
usually paid for the timber at the point of shipment. While the 
present price paid for greenheart is considerably less, the wood now 
obtained is of an inferior quality, since it is immature and, conse- 
quently, less durable. Tracts are now being cut over in some places 
for the third time, and trees which previously escaped observation or 
were thought too small to be used are taken. Logs 2 feet in diameter 
or over yield the best grades. Trees of smaller dimensions have a 
good deal of sap and are not durable. Their timber, moreover, is 
irkely to shrink and split considerably in seasoning. At present prac- 
tically all the greenheart timber is shipped to Liverpool and New 
York. These are the two chief distribution points, and the necessary 
reshipping of such extraordinarily heavy material approximately 
doubles the cost of direct shipment. 
MARKET. 
While the demand for greenheart timber is great, it is not keeping 
pace with the increased use of fancy cabinet woods and of con- 
struction material. The extensive employment of reenforced con- 
crete for wharf construction tends, for one thing, to curtail the out- 
put. The volume of native timbers, principally greenheart, exported 
from British Guiana during the 20 years previous to 1909 is given in 
the table following: 
Exports of timber from British Guiana* from 1889 to 1909, 
I! 
Year.? Amount. | Year. | Amount. 
Cubic feet. | Cubic feet. 
1889-90 296, 151 1899-1900 170, 632 
1890-91 332, 098 | 1900-1901 287, 640 
1891-92 312, 801 1901-2 313,571 
1892-93 325, 863 1902-3 340, 260 
1893-94 234, 870 1903-4 273, 542 
1894-95 238, 993 1904-5 293,315 
1895-96 175, 520 1905-6 276, 765 
1896-97 , 234 1906-7 170, 985 
1897-98 283,684 | 1907-3 | 232, 669 
1898-99 250, 463 | 1908-9 | 191,409 
| } 
1 Greenheart is exported only from British Guiana and the island of Trinidad. 
2 The fiscal year includes the 12 months from April 1 to March 31. 
