46 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



BUFFALO 



The lumber trade still drags more or less, 

 so that there is little chance of its doing much 

 in the line of recovery before the midsummer 

 lull. At the same time, it must not be under- 

 stood that lumber is doing nothing. The 

 movement is slow when compared with the 

 last few years. People are selling from one- 

 third to two-thirds of what they did then, and 

 this market is doing its share; in fact, it 

 appears to be doing more than most markets 

 are. The local demand is good, for building 

 is active and the woodworking mills are for 

 the most part running, though it is said that 

 the car shops do not buy as they used to 

 nor as dealers think they should. But Buf- 

 falo has kept her dish right side up so far, 

 and promises to go on in the same way. A 

 hardwood dealer who was lately in Detroit 

 remarks that the lumber trade there has had 

 to clear away the wreckage of eleven fail- 

 ures, which is a pretty bad state of things. 

 Nobody looks for anything of the sort here- 

 after, so all that must be done is to wait. 

 Unless there is a change for the worst it will 

 come out all right in a fair amount of time. 



Hardwood lumber led the rest for a while, 

 but it does not look now as if it was doing 

 it. Some dealers say that consumers often 

 bought more of it than they really needed, 

 in the expectation that trade would be back 

 again by this time. When it does not come 

 the stock accumulates. There has not been 

 much complaint of this sort, but enough to 

 have some bearing on the situation. 



The active hardwoods are still plain oak and 

 poplar, with black ash, elm and basswood a 

 good second, the other woods, plain oak, 

 chestnut and birch, being weak and unsatis- 

 factory. Maple is a side wood, but it sells 

 pretty well. The really good sellers in all the 

 trade are southern pine and hemlock for house 

 building, with cypress doing better than it 

 was, prices being firmer. If southern pine 

 prices were not so awfully low the trade would 

 be 'satisfied with it, but the profits all along 

 the line are small. 



markets has lowered prices for domestic con- 

 sumption. It is. however, felt that this is but 

 temporar\-. Stocks at the mills are not large, 

 and only production is being generally cur- 

 tailed. Of course, this condition predicates 

 trouble for buyers should any decided increase 

 in the deman d o ccur . - . 



J?opIar and oak in the better grades seem to 

 be holding their own well as regards price, 

 but the lower grades of these woods are re- 

 ceiving the most attention, and the operators 

 are possibly receiving more inquiries for these 

 stocks than for any others. The market for 

 gum shows little life, although what orders 

 have been entered were booked at steady 

 prices. Orders entered by wholesalers here 

 indicate that trade conditions in New York 

 and Pittsburg are exceedingly quiet, which is 

 accounted for in arge part by the fact that 

 comparatively little building is going on in 

 those cities. New York being woefully de- 

 ficient, with prospects for future trading poor. 

 The weather here has been excellent for both 

 logging and manufacturing. 



trade generally, still there Is a noticeable in-' 

 crease in the number of inquiries and orders 

 are somewhat larger. Brighter weather and 

 gradual resumption of operation by manufac- 

 turing concerns have produced a better feel- 

 ing among the trade. 



Prices have not advanced, but there is a 

 firmness noted which has been lacking for' 

 some time. Poplar is still the leader of the 

 market and prices are fairly firm for firsts 

 and seconds at J53 f. o. b. Ohio river. Oak 

 is in better demand and the current quota- 

 tions for firsts and seconds at the Ohio river 

 are $45. and the lower grades accordingly. 

 There is a slight demand for elm. hickory, 

 ash and other varieties of hardwoods. 



NASHVILLE 



EVANSVILLE 



The hardwood market has not improved 

 much in this territory during the last two 

 ■jyeeks, having just about held, its own, con- 

 sidering prevailing prices and amount of lum- 

 ber shipped. "With one exception the mills are 

 all running; however, in most cases not a 

 yery large sto<^k of logs is kept on hand. 

 Good logs still remain scarce and hard to 

 find, although one firm has just closed a deal 

 for a big shipment of logs that are said to 

 be very fine. There has been less logging 

 done this spring than usual, partly owing to 

 the excessive rains, but mostly on account of 

 the unsettled condition of the market. Fac- 

 tories are running from forty to sixty hours a 

 week and buying just enough to fill their 

 Immediate requirements. Quartered red oak 

 Is about the strongest wood in this market at 

 present; however, quartered white oak is a 

 close second. Poplar is having a little better 

 demand, as is ash. 



Something of a stiffening in prices on hard- 

 woods was noted during the last few days. 

 Quartered oak and poplar continue to be the 

 leaders in the local market, and they are in 

 good demand. The buying from this point, 

 however, continues to be rather of a desultory 

 nature; nothing big in the way of sales is 

 being made; on the contrary, buyers seem to 

 still be looking for bargains and pick-ups. and 

 are not generally laying up any stocks. Some 

 little improvement is noted here and there 

 in the local market, however. This section 

 has experienced quite a lot of bad weather 

 during the last two weeks, and this has. of 

 necessity, retarded building operations to a 

 large extent. It is believed building will pick 

 up quite a good deal in the near future, with 

 the return of settled conditions. Quite a 

 lot of lumber has been brought down the 

 Cumberland to the river mills on the recent 

 heavy tides. The millmen have to cut this, 

 but they are not selling a great deal of it. 

 preferring to stack it and hold it for a while 

 rather than sell it at a sacrifice. Many of 

 the river mills, most of them in fact, are 

 financially able to do this, and they are not 

 deviating from this well-definfd intention. 



TOLEDO 



NORFOLK 



A fair trade in hardwood has marked the 

 past week, and there have been few fluctuations 

 in price. Poplar has been noticeably weaker 

 and some shipments have been placed with 

 more or less difficulty. The demand for hard- 

 wood building materials has been limited, most 

 of the building this summer so far being con- 

 fined to repair work, remodelling and the cheaper 

 class of residences. There are some hriglit 

 spots, however, for a number of important struc- 

 tures will be put up a littli- later iind their 



construction calls for < -ht. i.iii. iianhvood 



finish. The factories in- : n i _ •■■nt as 

 they have been for several, n nni nl sliow 

 little improvement. A reviial oi uaik is gen- 

 erally expected a little later in the season. 

 Local dealers' stocks are In good shape. Large 

 orders are scarce, but there are many small 

 sales consummated, the policy being merely to 

 keep stocks alxiut where they now are. 



Conditions in the hardwood market arc 

 practically without change since last reported. 

 It would seem that the foreign demand has 

 diminished during the last three weeks, and 

 while there has been no great slump, the effect 

 of recent large consignments can easily be 

 discerned. With the state of the home mar- 

 ket below normal, the inability to dispose 

 of an average amount of hardwoods on foreign 



COLUMBUS 



MILWAUKEE 



Hardwood stocks an- lieginning to move and, 

 Milwaukee hardwood dealers feel more opti- 

 mistic than they have in months. Not only, 

 has the building season brightened matters,, 

 but there seems to be general activity in the, 

 hardwood field, with better demand from aa 

 quarters and with rapidly increasing sales. 

 Buyers who have been holding ofC for several 

 weeks are now placing orders, and inquiries 

 are beginning to materialize into something; 

 more tangible. Dry stocks are low and sev-, 

 eral of the leading hardwood firms have re-, 

 eeived cargoes of lumber, especially maple, 

 from Michigan the past week. Trade with, 

 the mills is a little dull, and the sash and 

 door people seem to be somewhat reticent 

 about placing large orders. 



Maple in all lines is firm and there is a 

 general demand for flooring. Interior finishing 

 is now being placed and it is believed that 

 this trade will be maintained for some time. 

 Cypress has declined somewhat in price, aa 

 stocks are large and dealers are all anxious to 

 sell. Basswood is holding its own, and there 

 is little change to be noted either in quarter 

 sawed or plain oak. Poplar is strong an(^ 

 prices are unchanged. Considerable movement 

 is to be found in hickory, ash and in all furnii 

 ture materials. 



Orders for the interior finish for the mam-, 

 moth new city auditorium have not yet beep 

 placed and several local and out-of-town 

 firms are watching this big contract. 



The 



Ma^ 



.■ill 



ne of business transacted durmg 

 ompare very favorably with that 



Improvement in the hardwood market in 

 this section during the past fortnight has 

 been more pronounced, and manufacturers, 

 jobbers and dealers are more optimistic of 

 the future. AVhile the improvement has not 

 been as pronounced as was expected by the 



of April, and but for the two weeks of in- 

 clement weather, it would have exceeded that 

 rhonth. The hardwood market in generil 

 showed a much better tone, as the inquiries 

 were more numerous and the actual amount 

 of business transacted was also on a larger 

 scale. 



Poplar of all grades continues to be the best 

 selling item on the list, and the demand for 

 the lower grades on the part of box manufac- 

 turers was more urgent than that of the 

 month previous. They are also buying some 

 of the lower grades of yellow pine and Cot- 

 tonwood and gum. of the latter the red va- 

 ,i,ix ii:i^ 111. liiiih ijial call. The furniture 

 II i : ! ■ , , 1 ; i: . - ! I . i t y havB resumed oper- 

 ;,,;,., : J ' . ilo and this has in- 



^,. i,,,i i!, HiMMii I. M- such items as hickory, 

 ni,ih..sany. walnut. chestnut and oak. 

 Towards the latter part of the month the 

 weather was far more favorable for building 

 operations, and that resulted in a better de- 

 mand for building lumber. As a rule the gen- 

 eral lumber dealer is of the opinion that a 

 much better tone will be noted in the market 

 next month; that Is, with favorable weather 

 conditions. Prices on all grades have been 

 well sustained, and there is not much chance 

 for any concessions being made. 



