Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/420

 406 FORESTS of the most insignificant groves of the big trees at the northern ex treme of its range are protected by the State legislature, and a law has been enacted forbidding the felling of trees over 15 feet in diameter ; but there is no law to prevent the cutting or burning of the saplings, on which the perpetuation of the grove depends, or to prevent the burning of the old trees, which, if they do escape the fire, will succumb to the drought which the sweeping away of the environing forest will occasion. 1 In Texas, where there is a very inadequate supply of timber, the growth of trees on the prairies is being attempted, but the frequency and destructiveness of prairie fires are great obstacles to success. Central America. Mexico and the various states of the isthmus uniting North and South America, as well as the West Indian Islands, possess abundant forests, which are as yet, however, imperfectly known. But they contain many fine timbers in large quantities, the chief of which, mahogany, Swietenia Mahagoni, deserves special notice. The mahogany tree is found on the main land and in the West Indian Islands between 11 and 20 N. lat. It grows to a large size, with a perfectly straight stem, and is ex ported from the different states and islands&amp;gt;where it grows. That which comes from British Honduras is esteemed the best, but the supply from there has declined of late years. Mahogany was first imported into England about 1640. It has been introduced into Bengal and Malabar. In the neighbourhood of Panama 2000 persons are employed in drawing off the juice of Cnstilloa elastica, the Central American caoutchouc tree, and in Nicaragua 600 to 800 persons find similar employment. (See Nature, 1875.) Cuba. For variety and value the woods of Cuba rival those of the mainland, but the Government forests have been neglected and left to chance ami plunder. There has been no attempt to control the misuse, waste, and wanton destruction of forest. Valuable timber is felled for making enclosures, and much is burnt. Almost all the remaining woods belong to private persons. Mahogany, cedar, and fustic wood, with many others, are produced freely. During last century forty -two ships of war were built in the Royal Arsenal of Havannah, and with proper management much timber for naval purposes might be obtained. South America. The richness and luxuriance of the tropical vegetation in South America are proverbial, and the whole chain of the Andes is clothed with wood, varying according to elevation, latitude, and aspect. Owing to the scarcity and high price of labour, with the few facilities of transport to the sea-coast, the timber trade of South America has not as yet reached great dimensions ; but with the increase of population and the opening up of the country this commerce will be vastly developed. No data as to the extent of forest area are available, but with great variety of climate in the vast continent there is great diversity also in the vegetation. Each State has its own special forest- products to export, of which, how ever, we can only name a few of the more valuable. British Guiana furnishes two of the most valuable timbers known for shipbuilding, greenheart ( Kectandra Rodicci) and mora (Mora cxcelsa) ; both of these grow to a large size, and arc said to be very abundant, but owing to the great demand, and the want of legal restriction to prevent the cutting of saplings, it is becoming difficult to obtain good greenheart. It is to be hoped that the British colonies in the western hemisphere will follow the example of the East Indian empire, and introduce, ere it be too late, measures of conservancy and reproduction. Sir J. Hooker has urged this in strong terms. (Kew Report, 1877.) French Guiana, contains valuable forests, and produces &quot;ange- lique &quot; (Dicorynia 2&amp;gt;araensis), a timber much employed in naval dockyards. Venezuela. Humboldt mentions in his travels that the waters of the Lake Valencia had greatly decreased owing to the clearings of forest in the Aragua valley, near the northern coast of Venezuela. The Orinoco, the great water highway of Venezuela, is fringed in its lower course with magnificent evergreen forests. The most import ant trees of this republic are lignum vitae (Zycjophyllum arborcum), found chiefly on the coast, and &quot; guayacan,&quot; used for cabinet work. Brazil wood is so common as to be generally used for fences. Cedar and ebony are also among the products. Venezuela is the home of the cow tree (Galadodcndron utile), which yields large quantities of nutritious thick milky juice. The cocoa plant (Theobroma Cacao) is also a native of the, north of South America, thriving vigorously with a maximum of humidity and a high temperature. Ecuador contains great forests east of the Andes, where the cli mate is excessively humid. The export trade in 1874 amounted to 676,635, upwards of 500,000 being for cocoa, india-rubber, and cinchona bark. The bark of Cinchona Calisaya is no longer procurable ; that of C. succirubra is exported. Bra-.d. The great empire of Brazil has forests covering an area half the size of Europe. For 2000 miles the river Amazon flows through Brazilian territory, and forms with its tributaries the only interruption in a rich level tract measuring 1200 miles from E. to V. and 800 from N. to S. covered with virgin forest. R, Spruce graphically describes the wonderful luxuriance of a forest on the Amazon. &quot;As we ran along shore and gradually lessened our distance, I endeavoured to trace out the species composing the forest, but, with the exception of the palms, of the trees with bipinnate foliage, and of a few with remarkable dome-shaped crowns, there was such an intermingling of forms that I in vain attempted to separate them ; nor was there, among exogenous trees, any contour so striking as the twisted pyramid of our northern pines. When I entered the forest the confusion was still greater; for so much were the branches of adjacent trees in terwoven, and so densely veiled in many cases with twiners and epiphytes, that only an indistinct view could be obtained of any individual tree, and it was only when sailing along the banks of the rivers that I saw so much of the trees in the inundated forest as to give me a clear idea of the outlines and general aspect of many of them.&quot; Jour. Linn. Soc., v. 3. The productiveness of the Brazilian forests may be inferred from the fact that in the Paris Exhibition of 1873 were 300 different kinds of timber, many of them of great value both for naval and civil con struction and for ornamental work. No plantations have vet been formed of these valuable woods, and fustic and Brazil wood are to be met with only at a distance from the coast. The most important woods of construction are jacaranda (Dalbcrgia nigra), Brazil wood (Ccesalpinia echinata), ironwood (Cicsalpinia ferrca), cedar (Ccdrela brasilicnsis). But the Brazilian forests though rich in timber are richer still in gums, resins, drugs, dyes, and produce valuable for trade and manufacturing purposes. The great development of commerce in forest produce is illustrated by the export returns for 1871-72, viz. : Tons. Caoutchouc 4723 750,000 Mate&quot; (Paraguay Tea) 9357 227.581 Cocoa 3125 150,929 Rosewood 105,100 Manioc flour 6960 35,813 Of dye stuffs the best are Brazil wood, fustic (Madura tlndoria), red mangrove (Rhizophora), arnotto (JBixa Orcllana) ; of drugs, sarsaparilla (Smilax sp.), ipecacuanha (Ccphaclis Ipecacuanha}, guarana (PauUinia sorbilis), jalap (Exogonium I urga), &c. Europe draws from Brazil its largest supply of caoutchouc. It is obtained from Siphonia elastica and Hancornia speciosa, trees growing in abundance in the provinces of Amazonas and Para, and so largo has been the export that in some districts the supply begins to fail. Copemicia cerifera, the wax palm, is a most valuable tree, the estimated annual production in wax and fibre is nearly 250,000 (official return). Brazil wood and Brazil nuts (Bertholletia cxcelsa) are among the largest exports. Peru. In the Montana region of Peru (that is, the extensive area stretching eastward from the Andes to the confines of Brazil) are vast forests, yielding in spontaneous abundance Peruvian bark, india-rubber, vanilla, copaiba, cinnamon, sarsaparilla, ipecacuanha, vegetable wax, &c., but the collection of produce and its transport through the sierra and coast regions to the ports is attended with much difficulty and expense. The region of cinchona trees lies between 19 S. and 10 N. lat., and between 2500 and 9000 feet elevation above the sea. In South America the miserable Govern ments of the cinchona districts have almost destroyed the inestim able boon with which a bountiful providence has endowed them. Happily, in this case, the energy of such men as Markham, Spruce, and others has in great measure prevented a loss which would have been incalculable ; for the cinchona plantations established in India, in Java, and in various other colonies give promise that Europeans will not in the future suffer from the thoughtless greed of the semi-civilized Governments of the Andine States. Chili. In the inner valleys of the Cordilleras there are estimated to be from 250,000 to 500,000 acres of virgin forest, containing trees of great dimensions. Uruguay. The &quot;montes&quot; of South and Central Uruguay form narrow fringes to the larger streams, and rarely exceed a few hundred yards in width. Seen from distant higher ground they resemble rivers of verdure meandering through the bare campos, from which they are sharply defined the reason being that the wood only grows where it is liable to inundation. N. and Y,. Uruguay are little known, but the same description is applicable to them. In the montes of the Rio Negro, Dr David C hristison reports having seen twenty species of trees and shrubs, including a palm which extends southwards to the Santa Lucia. The montes of Uruguay are of no commercial value, and their extent must be trifling, but they suffice for the wants of the present scanty population. The beautiful ombu (Pircunia or Phytolacca dioica) is the only tree which is possibly native on the campos. The softness of its spongy tissue renders it useless for burning and for timber. On the eastern side of South America, continued in the whole stretch of 1500 miles south of the Rio de la Plata to the straits of Magellan, wood seems to some of the islands of Tierra del Fuego, which, from the descrip tions of Darwin, we know to be completely covered with forest. AUSTRALIA. The large continent of Australia, so far as it has been colonized, is emphatically a pastoral country, and no survey has yet been made