56 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



bas not been as great as was anticipated at tlie 

 opening of the Ijuilding season. Cypress condi- 

 tions show- very little change and there are few 

 sales of much consequence being made in this 

 wood. Birch has been active for this marlset 

 and the price is holding its own. 



BRISTOL 



Lumbermen in this section are pretty gener- 

 ally inclined to the belief that conditions are 

 improving, though there is not as much sub- 

 stantial evidence of betterment as they had 

 anticipated. It is generally admitted that the 

 outlook is much brighter than it has been and 

 the predictions are that the late summer and 

 fall will see better prices, together with more 

 active demand for all kinds of stock. 



Prices are holding up fairly well and values 

 are not seriously disturbed by the dullness of 

 the market. Exporters say that the domestic 

 market is in better shape than foreign, though 

 they expect to see conditions abroad grow bet- 

 ter within a few months. 



"The trouble is," said a well-known local ex- 

 porter, "that some of the exporters consigned 

 too much stock to their customers during the 

 early months of the year and the supply was 

 in excess of the demand. I think, however, that 

 conditions abroad will soon right themselves, 

 as the importers are beginning to find out that 

 they are not going to get lumber at slaughter 

 prices, as they had been led to expect, but that 

 American prices are firm." 



The majority of the mills in this section are 

 running, and the volume of business being trans- 

 ncted is fair and shows an improvement over 

 a month ago, according to reports of the local 

 railroad traflic oflJcials. The per cent of idle 

 freight cars is now very small, while the ma- 

 jority of the industries are in operation, though 

 some of them are working on reduced time. 

 Wages arc reduced, generally speaking, about 15 

 per cent. 



CINCINNATI 



The month of June in the hardwood market 

 has been satisfactory in several respects. In 

 the first place, the actual amount of business 

 transacted exceeds that of the month previous, 

 and some dealers are of the opinion that the 

 month of June of this year will be as good as 

 last year, if not slightly better. So far the 

 shipments of lumber from here have been much 

 larger than those of the month previous. The 

 demand seems general for all hardwoods, but 

 such grndes as poplar and oak are leading items 

 on the list. Quartered oak and even plain white 

 arc in better demand now than for some time, 

 and from reports received a much more urgent 

 inquiry is probable within a short time. The 

 Sunshine League, launched some time ago. Is 

 making great progress, and by the first of July 

 it is the intention to start up as many business 

 places as possible. This will also lend a much 

 beit.-r tfiiie to the market. Walnut, chestnut, 

 iiri!i-_:!;i , lb', Cottonwood and some other 

 I! iiowed improvement in demand, 



:iiii iilence of a better inquiry at 



tijiMi I: \ 111 mil tact urers are purchasing a 

 great dr;il of tlie lower grades, and their busi- 

 ness is reported as being quite brisk. 



EVANSVILLE 



during the past fortnight. Trices remain about 

 the same and inquiries for stock are coming In 

 quite freely and a few good orders arc being 

 placed. However, manufacturers are not anxious 

 to place large orders for quartered oak at pres- 

 ent market prices to be held very long before 

 shipment, as all are of the opinion that stock 

 will bring higher prices in the near future, and 

 •,is the largest portion of the product of this 



market is quartered oak. they are not getting as 

 many orders as they would were they willing 

 to accept present prices of stock to be deliv- 

 ered later on. 



The same depression is being noticed in for- 

 eign markets by local exporters that is reported 

 from other producing centers. Although in- 

 quiries are being received from abroad and an 

 order is placed now and then, there seems to be 

 little real demand, and there is a tendency on 

 the part of foreign dealers to make cuts and 

 in some cases refuse to accept cars, which makes 

 it necessary for the shipper to dock his stock 

 until his agent can get another customer for the 

 car, and this means the shipper is compelled 

 to stand the expense of moving the lumber, 

 sticking, measuring, dock rent, fire insurance 

 and numerous other charges, and then his lum- 

 ber is sold at a figure much below his invoice 

 price. With these conditions existing, the experi- 

 enced exporters do not care to take the chance, 

 and as a result the export trade is exceedingly 

 dull. 



The demand for poplar is increasing, especially 

 in the thin stock : however, thick poplar is very 

 dull. The building trade is looking up and woods 

 that are used for this purpose are in better de- 

 maiHl. ijnart.rcd oak is still in good demand 

 1m, 111 ill ,1.111111. Ill and fast grades. Plain oak 

 iriii;iiii- -]ii\v. i.iuartered white oak is in ex- 

 (.llciit ilriiian.i with the flooring trade, and the 

 general tone of the market denotes that the 

 picking up of the building trade is helping busi- 

 ness along. 



in the hardwood market, there is a better feel- 

 ing. There is a notably good demand for some 

 Items on the hardwood list. Quartered red and 

 white oak are in particularly good request. Plain 

 oak is also called for considerably and the poplar 

 demand is getting better. This last item is quite 

 scarce in some grades. The two hardwoods that 

 are the dullest on the market are gum and Cot- 

 tonwood, although there is little call for hickory. 

 Tlie minor woods are quiet. In the producing 

 territory the sitiiali.n is stimiL; except as to 

 gum and cottonw<i.nl _\. w limiirr is not being 

 cut, but operations m. rmiiiiiril to getting out 

 logs cut last summ.i- and lull. Tlic heavy rains 

 have prevented new timber from being cut. For 

 this reason the mills are only running in a small 

 way, and in fact some of them are not being op- 

 erated at all. Dry stocks in ih.. xutwv grades 

 are small. Little dry is on i lii.rity 



of the mills except at tla ' dis- 



tance from the railroads, aim 1 been 



able to ship it. The cypi.-ss li.imiiii..m> m St. 

 Louis have not changed. Business is quiet and 

 comparatively few orders are coming in. 



Although conditions in the lumber market 

 have been steadily improving, still things are 

 nowhere near normal, nowhere near what they 

 were this time last year, and lumbermen are 

 becoming resigned to the belief that old times 

 will not return until next fall. It is getting hot 

 now, very hot in and around Nashville, and what 

 is known as "summer dullness" has set In. About 

 the only redeeming feature to be found In the 

 local situation is the fact that quite a lot of 

 summer liiillding is going on. This has made 

 the market for quartered oak quite active — In 

 fact, quartered oak is about the only wood that 

 is in any sort of demand at this time. Plain 

 oak continues to drag and there Is little doing 

 In ash, hickory and chestnut. Stocks at mill 

 points arc not large and the retailers are not 

 piling up any slocks, no matter how cheap they 

 may be obtained. Large consumers, however, 

 liave not stopped buying stulT, but arc laying It 



away for future use. It looks as though the 

 small consumer and the retailer, in view of the 

 fact that they are doing a hand-to-mouth busi- 

 ness, will have to pay more for their stuff in 

 the fall, when they will perhaps need it badly. 

 Cumberland river is getting low and clear now 

 and the logging season is well nigh over until 

 next winter — in fact, the sudden hot spell, which 

 has been on for several days, has caused the 

 river to fall quite rapidly, and in some instances 

 crossties which had been started down stream 

 in rafts were caught, tied up and wait for a 

 tide. Quite a lot of activity is noted among 

 the local hardwood flooring manufacturers, and 

 this has made the market for quartered oak more 

 brisk than would otherwise be the case. 



The demand for hai-dw4X)d lumber is still 

 rather light, but -is gradually increasing. The 

 main complaint now with both manufacturers 

 and wholesalers is the low prices offered. Some 

 holders are evidently trying to dispose of their 

 lumber regardless of price, and this is not only 

 creating an undesirable competition but it is 

 forcing prices to a level wbi.li lb.' tiaile here 

 are unwilling to accept. Tin- iirr\ ailiiiL- view is 

 that values will be better lai. i ami tin- majority 

 of Memphis manufacturers ami wIml.saliMs pre- 

 fer to hold their present stocks, as they do not 

 believe they can be replaced at as cheap figures 

 as are represented in current prices. 



The demand continues good for high grade 

 plain and quarter-sawed oak. The lower grades, 

 however, are in only moderate request — in fact, 

 a feature of the entire situation is the compara- 

 tivrly l.elliT demand for high-grade lumber than 

 r,,r ill.- l.iw.r. Ash Is slow of sale and prices are 

 un-aii-ia. ii.ry. The movement In gum Is rather 

 qui.t au.l |.ii..s are low. Cypress is moving in 

 only a m..d. lat.- way. The demand for poplar 



is fairly ■-■ i ami ini. .s are comparatively well 



maintained. . .himhw 1 is rather poor at the 



moment. The demand for it is not large in any 

 grade and offerings are pretty full, with the 

 result that prices have been reduced materially 

 on the part of manufacturers in some sections. 

 Memphis manufacturers, however, as a rule are 

 holding out for pretty good values. Low-grade 

 gum has been moving very slowly recently. One 

 of the hlg harvester companies, however, has 

 recently taken a very big quantity of firsts and 

 seconds sap gum, but the price is considered a 

 very low one. Some of this was sold by Mem- 

 phis manufacturers at the convention In Mil- 

 waukee. Export conditions are unsatisfactory 

 and the volume of business moving in that direc- 

 tion Is very small. 



NEW ORLEANS 



Conditions in the New Orleans market have 

 not changed materially within the last fort- 

 night. A review of the market shows the ex- 

 port situation to be in anything but satisfactory 

 shape. Some of the mills are doing a little 

 export- business, while a few of the hardwood 

 plants are supplying a fair demand from the 

 Interior. As a rule, however, business is quiet 

 and there are no indications of early Improve- 

 ment. Recent concessions made on cypress to 

 the New Orleans factories have attracted at- 

 tention. Under date of June 13 a local cypress 

 company Issued a concession list making cuts 

 practically all down the line and reducing the 

 list price anywhere from $1 to $4 per thou- 

 sand. There is still a fair European demand 

 for staves, and the movement In the.se Is more 

 active than in any other export timber. 



' ASHLAND ^^■^— 



The hardwood market hen-, as regards prices, 

 orders and shipments made, Is about as It has 



