Yacal (Dipterocarpus plagatus) gives logs up to 50 feet long by 22 inches square. It is proof against white ants, has great strength and tenacity, and is much valued in Manila for house-building, etc.
Natives employed in the felling of timber often become very expert in the selection and appreciation of the standing trunks.
The approximate order of resistance of the best woods, estimated by their practical employment and not by theoretical comparative experiments, would be as follows, viz.:—
Hardwood Strains
| Tensile Strain. | Transverse Strain. | ||||||
| 1 | Dúngon. | 8 Acle. | 1 Molave. | 8 Banaba. | |||
| 2 | Yacal. | 9 Narra. | 2 Camagon. | 9 Yacal. | |||
| 3 | Ipil. | 10 Tíndalo. | 3 Ipil. | 10 Mangachapuy. | |||
| 4 | Mangachapuy. | 11 Molave. | 4 Acle. | 11 Laúan. | |||
| 5 | Guijo. | 12 Laúan. | 5 Dúngon. | 12 Guijo. | |||
| 6 | Banaba. | 13 Cedar. | 6 Tíndalo. | 13 Cedar. | |||
| 7 | Camagon. | 14 Lanete. | 7 Narra. | 14 Lanete. | |||
The hardwoods of the Philippines, suitable for building and trade requirements as described above, are those in general use only. Altogether about fifty kinds exist, but whilst some are scarce, others do not yield squared logs of sufficient sizes to be of marketable value. Amongst these are the Quercus concentrica (Tagálog, Alayan), a sort of oak; the Gimbernatia calamansanay (Tagálog, Calamansanay); the Cyrtocarpa quinquestyla (Tagálog, Amaguís), and others.
To carry on successfully a timber trade in this Colony, with ability to fulfil contracts, it is necessary to employ large capital. Firstly, to ensure supplies by the cutters, the trader must advance them sums amounting in the total to thousands of pesos, a large percentage of which he can only nominally recover by placing them against future profits; secondly, he must own several sailing-ships, built on a model suited to this class of business. Several Europeans have lost the little money they had by having to freight unsuitable craft for transport to the place of delivery, and by only advancing to the native fellers just when they wanted logs brought down to the beach, instead of keeping them constantly under advance. With sufficient capital, however, a handsome profit is to be realized in this line of business, if it is not killed by too much new legislation.
So far Philippine woods have not met in London with the appreciation due to their excellent qualities, possibly because they are not sufficiently well known. In China, however, they are in great demand, in spite of the competition from Borneo (Kúdat and Sandákan) and Australian shippers. Since the American occupation, large shipments of Oregon Pine have been made to the Colony: how this wood will stand the climate is not yet ascertainable.
Fruits.—There are few really choice, luscious fruits in the Philippines which can compare with the finest European species. Nothing in this Colony can equal our grape, peach, cherry, or strawberry.