FROZEN AND CHILLED BEEF
Progress of Argentine Exports compared with the principal exporting countries
CHAPTER XIII
FORESTRY
Did anyone ever hear of Argentine timber? Few people indeed; though a good many more know that both of the River Plate Republics are large importers of wood from the North of Europe. That they need not be so, because they have all they, and a good many other countries besides, can possibly need already growing in their own territories (and as much more as may be wanted, only for the trouble of planting under highly favourable natural conditions), will come as a surprise even to some Argentines and Uruguayans; so accustomed are they to import all their building timber and furniture. Yet the above are facts.[46]
The only well-known forestal products of the River Plate are the logs of and extract from the Quebracho (Aspidosperma Quebracho, Schlet). The wood of this tree is very hard—hence its name quebra-hacha, break-axe—and is valuable for cabinet-making, fine carving, and engraving, etc.; but it rots quickly when exposed to the influences of weather. Notwithstanding this, on account of its hardness, it is in large demand for railway sleepers. The extract is very largely used for tanning.
The following lists and descriptions given by Señor Fernando Mauduit in his erudite Monograph on “Arboriculture in Argentina,” attached to the Argentine National Census, 1908, cannot, certainly, be improved on by the present author. These lists, although confined to the enumeration of the chief classes of trees only, are at the same time fully indicative of the general nature of forest vegetation not only in Argentina but also in Uruguay.