The consensus of opinion among experts who have examined the recent explorations in the neighborhood of Bacuranao seems to be that in spite of the fact that no oil well in Cuba, up to the present, has produced large quantities of petroleum, there is excellent reason for believing that wells drilled to a depth of three or four thousand feet, in zones that have been carefully studied by competent geologists, may yet rival in amount of production those of the best petroleum fields in other parts of the world. The deposits of asphalt in Cuba, in view of the extensive road building planned for this Republic, have an undoubted present and future value well worthy of consideration. Asphalt of excellent quality, and of grades varying all the way from a remarkably pure, clean liquid form, up through all degrees of consistency to the hard, dry, vitreous deposits that resemble bituminous coal sufficiently to furnish an excellent fuel, is found in Cuba in large quantities. Most of it is easily accessible, and of grades that command very good prices for commercial purposes in the world’s markets. CHAPTER XIII FORESTRY The virgin forests of Cuba, at the time of the Spanish conquest, were rich in hardwoods, such as mahogany, cedar, rosewood, ebony, lignum-vitæ and many others unknown in the markets of the United States. During four centuries these forests have been one of Cuba’s most important assets. Unfortunately this source of wealth has been drawn upon without forethought or discrimination since the first white settlers began to use the products of the forest in 1515. The completion of the North Shore Railroad of Camaguey, extending from Caibarien to Nuevitas, will soon open up the great hardwood forests of the Sierra de Cubitas and add greatly to the wealth of that district. There are 367 varieties of valuable forest trees, described with more or less detail in the Bureau of Forestry connected with the Department of Agriculture of Cuba. More than half of these are susceptible of taking a high polish, and would if known undoubtedly command remunerative prices in the hardwood markets of the world. At the present time, two only, cedar and mahogany, are sought and quoted in the commercial centers of the United States. While we find in Cuba few forest trees common to the United States, nearly all of the standard woods, such as oak, hickory, ash, maple, beech and walnut, seem to have their equivalents, from the viewpoint of utility at least, in the native woods of this Island. For purposes of manufacture, carriage making, naval uses, house building, cabinet work and fine carving, or general construction, Cuba has many woods of unsurpassed merit and often of rare beauty.