they buy, and these buyers can best be reached through the maho¬ 
gany dealers, who may take in new woods, if they will receive a cor 
tain proportion of mahogany. 
Thus, the chief obstacle in a venture in which cedar 
and mahogany do not play an important part in the production, is 
the fact that there is not immediate outlet for the product of 
the mill. The quiet sales of a sawmill is what mates it possible 
to turn the capital back into the operation and make another pro 
fit on the investment. The.profits are in most instances small, 
but the mills that are being kept running all year round usually 
profit 
make the^i on the frequent turns of their capital and on the bulk 
that is turned out yearly. The cost of the operation is cut 
down to a minimum and the output is increased to a maximum to meet 
the sharpest competition. It is difficult, therefore, to cat these 
tropical woods into similar dimensions, ship them to the United 
States, and there compete with lumber that is sold st highly com¬ 
petitive prices which are now prevailing. for this roas-aji the Amer 
icon producers of lumber can in many instances deliver sawn and 
dressed lumber to fanam or any other tropifal .American port for 
much less than for what the local producers caxi supply their most 
common grades . Therefore, if the American timber stands in com¬ 
petition with that producMdloeally in Panama, how much more will 
this be the ease with Panama timber in the North American markets. 
The question now arises as to why the American sawmill 
man is seeking opportunities in the tropics. This can best be ex¬ 
plained on the basis already alluded to above. There is a distinct 
demand for the better grades of the well-established woods such as 
cedar and mahogany that have risen in prices. These woods have no 
competitors in the United States markets which are absorbing anna- 
