20 



THE HARi:)\VOOD RECORD. 



WANTED. 



FIRST AND SECONDS AND COMMON 



PLAIN AND ^^ A 1^ 

 QUARTERED \J f\ ^ . 



H. E. CHRISTIAN, 



INDIANAPOLIS, INO. 



THE MARKETS. 





The Best of All 



The Shimer Cutter Heads 



Are made like the iUustraiion above, 

 which shows the Expansion feature. 

 Other styles are shown in onr catalogue 

 Ko. 24. A copy free for the asking?. 



S. J. Shimer & Sons, 



MILTON, PENNSYLVANIA. 



INDUSTRIES 



ARE 



OFFERED 

 LOCATIONS 



WITH 



Satisfactory Inducements, 

 Favorable Freight Rates, 

 Good Lalior Conditions, 

 Healtliful Communities, 



ON THE LINES OF 



THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL R. R. 



AND THE 



YAZOO & Mississippi VALLEY R, R. 



For full Information and descriptive pamphlet 

 address 



CEORCE C. POWER, 



Industrial Commissioner, 

 I Park Row, Chicago, III. 



CHICAGO. 



The fact that tlie hardwood hiiiihor busi- 

 iioss in ft );ononil way is in (.'ood shapi- 

 niiikos tlip CliiciiKO dealer nniniiidfiil to a 

 ciTtain extent of tlie really diseonra);inK 

 slate of deujand in the loeal market. The 

 fact that there is but comparatively little 

 salable stocks in the market, and but little 

 more in shipping condition at mill points, 

 is reason enouj^'li to feel bullish, despite 

 the radical chan)^ from high to low pres- 

 sure in the matter of demand. 



There is no question of doubt that a 

 slump in business has been in progress 

 here for the past month, and that it is at 

 a low el)b now. Tlie season is responsible 

 largely for this state of affairs, but it is 

 intensihed through a spirit of conservatism 

 on the part of buyers. Some of them seem 

 to think there will be a reduced price cur- 

 rent a little later on. 



On the other hand dealers are facing the 

 problem of securing stocks. Yard stocks 

 are very low and there is but little present 

 l)rospect of replenishment. The southern 

 liroducts are arriving in a limited way. but 

 so far barely sufficient to meet the' light 

 demands. As is generally known, produc- 

 tion in that section has been fearfully cur- 

 t.iiled during the past six months, altliough 

 tlicre is a better condition down there now. 

 It is also reported that most all of the 

 desirable big blocks of stock in the north 

 are sold, or mider contract, and it is mighty 

 l>oor picking up there. 



With .such conditions on the outside and 

 reports from the various lines of the lum- 

 ber consuming trade that prospects ahead 

 are gofnl with them, there should be no un- 

 easiness as to what the balance of the 

 year may bring forth. 



BUFFALO. 



For the time of the year business holds 

 up in good shape, and the demand for cer- 

 tain kinds of lumber is exceptionally good. 



Plain oak. ash and poplar may be said 

 to be the exceptions to the foregoing 

 There is considerable stock on hand at 

 the different mills and yanls north and 

 south. 



There is quite an amount of dry stock 

 to come forward for the many small mills 

 liMck from the railroads, that will come 

 forward from now on. Heretofore it has 

 liceii impossible to get teams to haul this 

 himber to the railroad. There is more of 

 this stock on hand at these small mills this 

 j'ear than most people figure on. The 

 steady demand for lumber and the high 

 prices have proved an irresistible argument 

 in favor of these smaller mills getting out 

 every available foot of hardwood which 

 tliey could possibly manufacture while the 

 liresent conditions lasted. Conseiiuently 

 there is much more lumber got out by these 

 mills this year than for the past three 

 years. 



Whether there will be enough of this 

 stock to affect the market price remains .to 

 bo seen, but I rathei- think there will be 



(Juartered oak remains in good demand 

 and holds firm at former prices, with a 

 sufficient stock in sight to take care of all 

 moderate demands. Cherry and basswood 

 continue scarce, high-priced and hard to 

 get hold of good lots, running well to firsts ' 

 and seconds and common. 



Chestnut seems to be a little easier and 

 more plentiful. Walnut remains about the 

 same. There seems to be more than 

 enough plain oak and ash in sight to take 



care of all calls, with a tendency to lower 

 prices. While poplar continues high nnjl 

 scarce in certain .sections, there is not n 

 groat amount of It being used throughout 

 the Kasl owing to the prices being so high 

 It Is conlidently predicted that there will 

 be a drop in poplar prices, and that be- 

 fore long. 



ST. LOtriS. 



St. I.ouis conditions remain abnormally 

 satlsfa<lory except so far as general 

 stocks a IV concerned, there being a de- 

 maiKl for as much lumber as can be fur- 

 nished and there being considerable diffi- 

 culty exi)erienced in purchasing its much 

 stock as is lieing shipped. l>uring the 

 whole spring it has appeared that the ship- 

 ments were In excess of the receipts and 

 the unusual efforts of the buyers to make 

 liirge purchases have been more or less 

 abortive. Ituring the past few weeks, be- 

 cause of the gradual increase in the soutD- 

 ern production, it has been possible to 

 buy larger (luantities of green lumber at 

 initial points, but the freight embargo is 

 operating so seriously that that purchased 

 east of the river cannot be brought in at 

 this time. The Illinois Central Railroad, 

 wliich brings in the bulk of the Missis- 

 sippi i)toduct, absolutely refuses to accept 

 shiiimeiits for St. Louis, a.id all the whole- 

 salers in this city can do is to pile what 

 they purchase at the mills. The Missouri, 

 .\rkansas and Louisiana mills are produc- 

 ing larger quantities of lumber than at 

 last report and are shipping to this mar- 

 ket more freely than they were, but this 

 no more than makes up for the loss of 

 the Mississippi stock, so that the general 

 market receipts are not gaining. There 

 have been some heavy receipts of cypress 

 from tlie lower river, but practically all 

 of these have been shipped to one concern, 

 so that the market is in need of this com- 

 modity. Tlie only class of buyers not in 

 the market just now are the furniture 

 people, who are too deeply engrossed with 

 the two expositions now in progress to 

 pay much attention to the placing of or- 

 ders for lumber. These people, however, 

 will be in the market after August 1, and 

 it is believed they will buy rather heavily. 

 Summer conditions prevail in other lines 

 of luml)er consumption, so that all buying 

 is on .'1 more or less hand-to-mouth basis, 

 but even this is giving a fairly satisfac- 

 tory volume of business. 



Popl.ir, cypress, cottonwood and gum 

 are about on a par so far as demand is 

 concerned, and the market requirements 

 of all arc particularly heavy at this time. 

 Gum is moving in heavier volume than 

 was the case a month ago, but the stock 

 now coming in is practically all of it on 

 old ordere, so that none of it figures in 

 present market conditions. Heavy orders 

 for this material and for cottonwood are 

 being received from the box people, and 

 tlie highest market prices are being paid, 

 indicating that there is no danger of a 

 slump in values in the near future. 



Oak remains in particularly strong de- 

 mand, which is especially apparent in the 

 call for quartered-sawed lumber. This is 

 still difficult to procure at initial points 

 and the St. Louis market has been drained 

 dry of it. In the plain-sawed product 

 there have been heavy purchases of inch 

 for several weeks past, so that local stocks 

 of green lumber are much better than 

 thev were. It is still wanted, however, 



