HARDWOOD RECORD 



not large and dealers predict a strong market 

 as soon as demand becomes normal. Plain oak 

 is in quiet call, but sales are reported at bet- 

 ter prices than liave been obtainable of late. 

 Mahogany is in moderate call. Very little de- 

 mand for elm and birch is being received in this 

 market. Dealers report more inquiry for hick- 

 ory, with offerings small. Cypress can still be 

 purchased at low prices. 



NEW YORK 



The 



ud market at New York continues 

 of the hand to mouth order, there being very 

 little change in the movement of lumber or de- 

 mand either one way or the other. Indeed, the 

 trade has pretty much settled down to taking 

 things as they come, not lookin- iLi- any iiiaii-- 

 rial change between now and ili.- I.ntn- put 

 of the year. It is freely admin..] Hiai ti.i-.' 

 are ample hardwood stocks offeriiin in ull -lailes 

 for current needs, but any sudden or material 

 change in the demand for hardwoods Iwtween 

 now and the latter part of the year will Imme- 

 diately force a sharp rising market by reason 

 of the fact tliat so many mills have suspended 

 operation at the manufacturing end, and the 

 average buyer and consumer has 1,-t bis stock 



the wholesale .u' nijii ii:i,l.', wlih-h, wliilr aiii]ilc 



for the presciii iimii,.,i n is or' the market, 



would be quickly absorbed with any change in 

 demand. This is a point which should be fully 

 appreciated by tne manufacturing trade and 

 those having any amount of hardwoods for dis- 

 tribution as an incentive to refrain from sac- 

 rificing any good stock at today's prices or 

 forcing the present market. Present buying Is 

 purely of the hand to mouth order and there 

 is no stimulation evidenced by any sacrifice in 

 prices, and for the most part it must be stated 

 that with the increasing appreciation of actual 

 conditions the tendency to sacrifice prices or 

 crowd the market is growing less, with the re- 

 sult that prices throughout the list are very firm 

 in line with such business .is Is ofTorin!:. 



PHILADELPHIA 



The 



are many who cling to the opinion that 

 (be turning point in trade may be expected only 

 wiien the presidential nominations are complete 

 and the vari.ms pi, 1 1,,, in, ,ieei,ied upon: others 

 of a more l..^,,,, • , ,, ,i,, nnt look for any 

 substantial elm. i .' „„tii there is a 



complete restrjiamn i ..i.iuUnce In financial 

 centers, which will take, they reason, a much 

 longer period to effect. However, In spite of 

 the various prognostications, optimism gener- 

 ally prevails. The conservative element in the 

 hardwood trade neither anticipate nor desire a 

 boom In trading, which condition usually forces 

 values to prohibitive heights and creates an 

 unhealthy situation. They predict. Judging from 

 past experiences, a gradual Increase In demand 

 and a comparative advance In prices. Though 

 the building work In this territory for June has 

 fallen far below that of the same month of last 

 y£ar, there has been an Increase over that of 

 May, and the class of structures Is such as to 

 employ more hardwood finish. It Is generally 

 understood that there Is considerable work of 

 the better grade on the boards awaiting capital 

 to push It along. 



Stocks In the hands of the yardmen and con- 

 sumers are below normal, and purchases are 

 made for absolute needs' only, with the request 

 for Immediate delivery. Mill stocks are well 

 controlled, and seasoned stock of all grades Is 

 anything but plentiful, and there Is no sign of 

 action to Increase the amount. Values in the 

 belter class of hardwoods still hold steady, while 

 In lower grades there Is considerable fluctuation. 

 Quartered oak remains high and scarce, with 

 good poplar second and the' other hardwoods 



varying. Veneers are off on account of substi- 

 tutes bearing the legitimate brands being placed 

 on the market. Cigar box lumber is slightly 

 more active. The furniture factories of eastefn 

 Pennsylvania are feeling the effect of the depres- 

 sion in the general trade : sash and door mills, 

 flooring manufactories, office fixtures and indoor 

 finish works are fairly busy. Box factories are 

 still running on reduced time, and the much 

 deplored practice of price cutting is still per- 

 sisted in. 



BALTIMORE 



While no important changes have taken place 

 in the lutrdwood trade, a very much better feel- 

 ing prevails among dealers as well as manufac- 

 turers. Not so long ago the period of recovery 

 was put at a rather remote date, but now the 

 opinion prevails that a marked improvement 

 may take place the latter part of this year, 

 and that from now on a slow but continuous 

 advance toward better conditions may be looked 

 for. Just what has given rise to this feeling 

 of optimism would be rather difficult to point 

 out. It may be accepted as certain, however, 

 that the clearing up of the political situation 

 had as much to do with It as anything else. In 

 other mercantile and Industrial lines men have 

 taken heart and are going ahead with so much 

 energy that the lumbermen have found them- 

 selves almost against their will obliged to follow 

 suit. Certain It Is that the tone of the trade Is 

 far more hopeful despite the fact that no one 

 appears to be getting much higher prices for 

 his lumber or receiving a very material Increase 

 In the number of orders. The mills have been 

 holding down to such an extent that the avail- 

 able supplies have reached a low ebb. Many of 

 the biggest plants have not yet resumed opera- 

 tions, having remained Idle for several months. 

 With the big consumers getting ready to enter 

 the market once more, there la some likelihood of 

 a positive shortage. The range of values has 

 been kept up quite well all along, and compara- 

 tively little room for Improvement remains In 

 this direction. 



The restoration of the domestic trade to nor- 

 mal proportions may also be expected to have a 

 nood effect abroad, and stop the demoralization 

 there by cutting off further shipments. Within 

 the past six months it was ea.sy enough 

 to urge the discontinuance of forwarding 

 on consignment, but the big mills with heavy 

 accumulations felt that they had to have an out- 

 lot, and as long as the foreign brokers were 

 willing to make advances on stocks the export 

 movement kept up. Itecently the brakes have 

 been put down somewhat and this, together with 

 the Improved outlook on this side of the Atlan- 

 tic, ought to prove helpful to (he exporters. 



PITTSBVRO 



Contrary to the usual state of affairs, midsum- 

 mer Is bringing an Increase In lumber sales. 

 Some attribute it to politics, some to the fact 

 that the big industries are nearly starved for 

 lumber, and others to the fact that financial 

 matters are getting easier and that legitimate 

 business Is now prepared to go ahead with proj- 

 ects which were held up several months ago. 

 More requisitions are coming In, and, what Is 

 still more to the point, more Inquiries are de- 

 veloping Into orders. Railroads are entering 

 the market ; so also are the coal mining com- 

 panies and the big industrial corporations. 

 None of these is buying heavily, but the sum 

 total of their purchases Is enough to Justify the 

 belief that from this time forward there will 

 be stronger buying. Aside from these different 

 lines of purchasing there Is a marked improve- 

 ment In the demand for ordinary building lum- 

 ber. Tne city of Pittsburg Itself Is not con- 

 tributing Its share of this business by any 

 means. Comparatively few hou.ses are going 



up here, but outside the city house-building op 

 erations are coming on to the boards in con- 

 stantly increasing numbers, especially miners' 

 houses. Trade with the manufacturing plants 

 has not been brisk duilng the past month, but 

 it is sufficient to keep down the stocks and to 

 hold prices fairly lirm at present levels. 



Demand is less spotted than it was in June. 

 The best grades of oak, especially white oak, 

 are excellent sellers, and it would not be strange 

 if the price advanced before September 1. Many 

 mills are cutting stock to order, and where they 

 have choice lumber they are able to get good 

 prices for it. The medium grades of oak and 

 chestnut are moving slowly and competition Is 

 keen all along this line. Poplar keeps its place 

 at the iiead of the hardwood columns in so tar 

 as buying popularity Is concerned. Spruce has 

 been less active for a few weeks, although ship 

 ments are much larger than they were earlier 

 in the spring. Hickory, maple and ash bring 

 good figures when sold to the manufacturers. 

 The stocks are small and no large orders are 

 being taken. 



BUFFALO 



A momiog siieiit In visiting the east side 

 hardwood dealers brings out no very inspiring 

 news as to the amount of business going on. 

 The rule is that all lumber sells slow and some 

 of It very slow. Only one or two of the offices 

 reported any late improvement in sales and 

 some of them could not he persuaded by any 

 means that It was better with them now than 

 It was a month ago. One dealer had gone fish- 

 ing and taken with him a downtown as.soclate, 

 the word given out being that they were not 

 especially needed and might as well be away 

 OS at home. 



This Is the literal and extreme sizing up of 

 the case, though when It comes to be analyzed It 

 does not need to mean very much. It Is mid- 

 summer. The trade has not been large with 

 the yards at any time this year. It has been 

 very spotted, as most of the dealers report 

 Some weeks it would really look as If the long 

 looked for return to full business was In sight 

 and then It would all drop off again and there 

 would be weeks before the revival. But this 

 is always so when a trade Is recovering from a 

 panic. It is not the time of year for Increase 

 In any business except excursions and soda 

 water and there Is no reason why this year 

 should be an exception. We must wait. It Is a 

 sound trade, every bit of It, and It will come out 

 al! right. 



The woods themselves are doing about as 

 before. Some dealci-s are doing a little better 

 with white ash and others are selling maple 

 somewhat faster than they were. All agree 

 that quartered oak and poplar are very scarce 

 and that oak of all sorts and cuts would soon 

 give out If the demand should become large, 

 for the mills have not tried to pile lumber up 

 much. It might not be safe to do that. So 

 the plan for the most part Is to run the mills 

 slower this summer than has been the rule, 

 with the Idea that they can be started up at 

 any time fast enough to take care of all the 

 logs that are to be had, for logs are pretty 

 scarce. 



There Is no stir yet in chestnut and birch, 

 but these woods are good property, just as elm 

 and basswood proved to be. The extra expensive 

 woods, cherry, walnut and mahogany, are pretty 

 fair .sellers, for In some instances the car shops 

 are doing a little more buying than they were. 



■1 NASHVILLE [ 



Things look a little belter In the local hard- 

 wood market just now. Reports from distrib- 

 uting centers are encouraging. Good crop re- 

 ports have helped to give a healthful tone lo 

 the lumber business us the crop slluallon, espe- 

 cially In the Sonlb. is refli.eie.l v.-i v ,|nl.klv 



