6 BULLETIN 474, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The numerous trade names given to mahogany usually imply a 
difference in grade, as determined by the features just pointed out. 
Formerly mahogany from Nassau or Santo Domingo was distin- 
guished from Cuban mahogany by the smaller size of the logs, and 
dealers still carefully discriminate between so-called Spanish or 
Cuban mahogany and that obtained from other islands of the West 
Indies. The large trees accessible in Cuba, however, have practically 
all been cut. 
Florida, Cuba, Mexico, and Honduras exhibit distinct features of 
soil and climate and produce grades of mahogany of characteristic 
qualities. The difference between woods from the various regions 1s 
often so marked that an expert can tell at a glance from which one 
of them a given piece of wood has come. Trees on the hard, dry lime- 
stone soil of extreme southern Florida grow very slowly and produce 
a wood that is hard, heavy, dark red, and beautifully figured. This 
mahogany takes a better and more lasting polish than any other 
grade of the wood. The mahogany of Cuba and Santo Domingo 
grows in a richer, moister soil, and, as a result, is usually somewhat 
softer and of lighter weight than Florida mahogany, but neverthe- 
less is of a high grade. It has a close, even grain, and the logs 
imported seldom average more than 10 cubic feet each. Some of 
the pores are filled with hard, gritty, white masses which constitute 
a distinguishing character. Mahogany from those parts of Mexico 
and British Honduras where soil and climatic conditions are very 
favorable to rapid plant growth is considerably hghter in weight 
and often much lighter in color than that from more elevated regions. 
Mexico produces larger mahogany trees and a greater yield per acre 
than any other country. Honduras produces logs 40 feet long and 
4. feet in diameter. The wood is a beautiful dark color with a more 
or less wavy figure. Even 6-foot pieces with a wavy grain and 
including crotches of the trees sometimes bring fabulous prices. 
Occasionally single logs have been sold for $3,000. The claim that 
fexican mahogany is generally of a much better grade than that 
from Central America is not true of the grade of Mexican mahogany 
known as baywood (Swietenia macrophylla), which usually sells for 
much less than the ordinary heavier, darker colored mahogany from 
regions farther north, which is the small-leafed mahogany (Swie- 
tenia mahagoni). The dark reddish-colored grades of Mexican ma- 
hogany, however, are fully equal and in some instances superior to the 
Central American wocd. 
The weight of mahogany varies greatly according to the density of 
the wood. Florida mahogany is the heaviest, having a specific 
gravity when dry of 0.842. <A cubic foot of it weighs 524 pounds, 
and 456 board feet weigh a ton. The better grades from Honduras 
and Mexico have a specific gravity of about 0.74, 1 cubic foot 
