FORESTAL.
Value exaggerated--Difficulties of labour and transport--Special
sawing machinery required--Market for timber in the islands--Teak
not found--Jungle produce--Warning to investors in companies--Gutta
percha.
During the three and a quarter centuries the Spaniards have held the
Philippines, the forests of Luzon have supplied enormous quantities
of the finest timber for building houses, churches, convents, bridges,
warships, lighters and canoes. No care has ever been taken to replant,
and the consequence is that at this day long logs of many kinds most
wanted are not obtainable, all the large trees of valuable timber have
long ago been cut, and only in the most distant and least accessible
places are any worth having to be found.
The greatest nonsense is talked about the value of the Philippine
forests, but in fact it is only in the fever-stricken Island of
Mindoro, and in certain parts of Palawan and Mindanao, that any large
and valuable trees can be found.
Labour is a great difficulty; wood-cutters are scarce, and they are a
wild, unruly lot; only men inured to such a rough life can resist the
malaria of the woods, and even they are occasionally down with fever.
Chinamen would not venture into the forests, and only the natives
of each district are available, as they do not care to go far from
their houses. In order to engage them it is necessary to make them
advances of money which it will seldom be possible to recover. A good
deal of tact is required in dealing with the cutters, they are very
independent and will not put up with abuse. A considerable capital
is required to give advances to, and feed these men, also for buying
buffaloes, which die unless good care is taken of them.
If a cutter can be found who has buffaloes of his own, it is better
to hire them with him, as then they are sure to be taken care of.
The dragging the large logs to a river or port can only be done by
teams of buffaloes. The conditions prevailing prevent the employment
of chutes, wire ropes and winding engines, or tram-lines.
The valuable trees do not grow together in numbers as in the forests
of California and Oregon, but are found at considerable distances
from each other. It is therefore only possible to commence the use
of mechanical conveyance at the spot where the logs can be assembled
by animal labour. Even so, the number of logs from any district will
be so small that it will hardly pay to lay down a tramway.
The logs are squared in the woods and the butt ends are rounded like
the runners of a sleigh, two holes are chopped at the top corners
with a small adze called a palacol, through which rattans are passed
for the buffaloes to be yoked to. They are then dragged down to the
river or sea. The wood is too heavy to float, and bundles of bamboos
are attached to it to give it buoyancy.
The idea of putting up saw-mills in the forests is absurd--for the
reason given above.
The wood is very hard and tough, and specially made machinery is
required to work it.
The framing must be heavier, the feed lighter, and the teeth of
the saws much smaller and with less set. I have had some excellent
machinery and saws specially made in England for this purpose, by
Thomas Robinson & Son of Rochdale, but I sent home logs of the woods
required to be worked, for the saws, planers, and moulding cutters
to be made to suit. The ordinary sawing machinery as shown in trade
catalogues would be of no use at all.
The whole business is extremely risky, it requires a manager, immune
to jungle fever, a man of great vigour yet patient and tactful. Such a
man, understanding the native ways, would probably succeed after years
of hard and dangerous work; but I warn any one thinking of taking up
this business that in Luzon valuable trees are few and far between,
and distant from port or river, whilst in other islands where there
are timber trees they stand there because no one could ever be induced
to go and cut them.
As for exporting these timbers to the United States or other places,
there is no need to do that, for demand for timber in Manila and other
towns is greater than the supply, and iron construction is increasing
in consequence.
Oregon or Norway pine is of no use for building purposes in the
Philippines, for it would be devoured within a year or two by the anay
(white ants). I am told, however, that in spite of warnings the United
States military authorities have constructed stables and storehouses
of this timber.
I think it quite useless to mention the names of the different
Philippine timbers, as those who take an interest in them can purchase
the 'Manual de Maderero' (Wood-cutters' Manual) and obtain all the
information they require from it.
Molave is the most important, being proof against the white ants,
and almost imperishable. Ypil and yacal are splendid woods for large
roofs. They can be obtained long enough for tie-beams, even for wide
spans, and excellent roof-frames can be made by bolting them together.
On the Zambales mountains and in Benguet and Lepanto there are
forests of coniferae. When the Manila-Dagupan Railway was being
built, I had some sample sleepers brought down from thence. They
were quite suitable, but could only be used if thoroughly creosoted,
as otherwise they would merely provide food for the white ants. As
there are no gasworks in the Islands, creosote could not be produced,
nor would it pay to import it from Hong Kong or elsewhere on account
of the freight and duties.
There is no market in the islands for pine and no one cuts the
trees. They are not of great size. The Igorrotes burn them to clear
the land for planting.
True ebony is not found in the forests, but a very handsome and heavy
wood, called Camagon, is the nearest approach to it, being dark-brown
nearly black, streaked with bright yellow. It is found of larger size
than ebony and is sold by the pound.
Teak has often been reported to exist and samples of the alleged
teak have been shown to me. On comparing them with teak from
Rangoon a considerable difference was noted and the characteristic
odour was absent. My own impression is that there is no teak in
the Philippines. I have paid two dollars a cubic foot for teak in
Manila and if there was any to be had, this price would, I think,
have fetched it out.
As for such jungle produce as gum-damar, canes, and rattans, if the
reader will refer to my remarks on Palawan he will see that the most
valuable products are mostly worked out, and that in any case this
is not white man's business.
There is, however, one branch that, in view of increasing scarcity
and rising price, should be carefully looked after by the Philippine
Administration; I refer to the collection of gutta-percha in
Mindanao. This caused quite a boom for a short time, but as usual
the Chinamen got hold of the stuff and mixed it with various kinds
of rubbish, so that it was soon discredited in the European market.
An official of high-standing might be appointed to the double office of
Protector of the Natives, and Conservator of the Forests in Mindanao,
and rules for collecting the gutta without destroying the trees should
be prepared and enforced by personal visits from the conservator and
his deputies, to whom all the gutta should be handed, being paid for
in cash. This would probably yield a large revenue to the Government
and greatly benefit the natives, for they might receive half the value
of the gutta instead of the minute fraction the Chinese now give them.
The reader who has perused the previous remarks will no longer be
liable to be caught by tales of the fabulous riches of the Philippine
forests. And, above all, he should keep clear of any companies that
may be formed to exploit them. Energetic and tactful individuals may
succeed, but the success will be due to personal qualities, and will
be contemporaneous with that gifted party and disappear with him. This
is what happened to the "Laguimanoc Saw Mills and Timber Company"
as soon as the founder left.
A large proportion of the jungle produce of Mindanao, Palawan, and
the smaller Southern Islands is smuggled away by the Chinese traders
to Sandakan or Singapore.
All that appears in the Table of Exports is two or three hundred tons
of gum copal shipped each year from Manila.