THE H A R D W ( ) O D R E C O'R D. 



13 



states and as rich and productive as any 

 in the -vvorlil. But si) long as there is no 

 safety from tlie overflow of the Missis- 

 sippi it is ahiiost useless for the puiliosc 

 of asrieultnre. Tlu> farmer does not feel 

 encourasjed to locate there and invest his 

 time and money in maUing improvements 

 which the next liiuh tide in the river will 

 destroy. 



What the solution of the problem will 

 be is difficidt to predict at this time. 

 When the work of building levees along 

 the bank was begun it was believed that 

 such levees as are now constructed would 

 furnish absolute safety to the lives and 

 property of the inhabitants of the Delta 

 country, but now that the levees are raised 

 the bed of the river has raised with them. 

 and. in spite of all that has been done, but 

 little has been gained. 



It is a serious prol)lem and one which it 

 would seem can only be solved liy the 

 I'nited States government. The Missis- 

 sippi River is a national highway of vast 

 importance to the people of the West and 

 it should be controlled aud eared for by 

 the ouly power which has .inrisdiction 

 from its source to its mouth, and that is 

 the national government. So long as it is 

 left for each state to protect its own ter- 

 ritory, so long there will be a eontlict of 

 interests which will prevent the best re- 

 sults being obtained. It is not. for in- 

 stance, to the beneat of Tenuessee that the 

 Arkansas levee should be high aud strong. 

 On the contrary, the interests of Tenues- 

 see are better served by letting the river, 

 in the time of stress, overtluw Arkansas. 

 and vice-versa. 



We gather from the circular that the 

 principal efforts of the convention will be 

 • directed towards securing the taking over 

 ofthe construction and maintenance of the 

 levees of the Mississippi Kiver by the na- 

 tional government, and it is a work to 

 which the lumber interests of the South 

 should lend strong aud earuest support. 

 Once the prolilem of keeping the Missis- 

 sippi Kiver within bounds is solved, the 

 farming land of the l>elta country, a 

 goodly portion of which is owned by lum- 

 bermen, will become the best and most 

 valuable farming lands in the United 

 States, 



The Mississippi Kiver drains the water 

 from al least 20 states of the I'uiou, and 

 that the burden of confining that water to 

 a proixn- channel should lie borne by a 

 half-dozen states is not a fair p)-oposition. 

 We trust that the lumber interests of 

 the South will see that they are properly 

 represented at this convention and that 

 they show themselves alive to the impor- 

 tance of the matter of protecting the rich 

 cotton, sugar and rice |iroducing Delta 

 country from the devastation of Ihe an- 

 nual floods. 



Knei her Bros, of Lawreuceburg, Ind., 

 have purchase<l ."i,.")00 acres of tiraberland 

 in I.ertore county, Mississippi, and will 

 erect saw mill for the development of 

 same. 



GENERAL HARDWOOD CONDITIONS. 



There has been no ver.v uniterlal change 

 in the hardwood lumber situation during 

 the past fortnight. Two weeks ago we 

 noted a tendency to a better supidy in 

 sonn> lines of hardwoods. This tendency 

 has become slightly more marked aud has 

 increased to a point where in a few in- 

 stances it has had some effect on prices. 



The situation as regards jioplar lumber 

 is e.\citing a great deal of interest in the 

 trade, largely due to Ihe action of the 

 Hardwood Manufacturers' Association, at 

 its recent meetiu.g in Cincinnati, inaking 

 a sharp advance in the list prices on pop- 

 lar, to take effect September 15. There is 

 a wide divergence of opinion as to whether 

 this advance was justified and can be 

 maintained. We doubt the wisdom of 

 making such an advance at this time. We 

 believe it would have been a wiser course 

 had the poplar men held their prices where 

 they were. It may be that iioplar lumber, 

 considering its intrinsic valite, is worth 

 more money than was represented in the 

 old list, but in considering a business prop- 

 osition one should deal not. with what 

 should be, but what is, and there is no 

 question but that poplar lumber is in eas- 

 ier supply at present than it has been for 

 some time in the past. AVe do not wish to 

 be understood as expressing an opinion 

 that there will be any serious slump in 

 poplar prices. In fact, we believe that the 

 prices which prevail to-day will be main- 

 tained, but we do not see the ground on 

 which, considering all things, the associa- 

 tion bases its belief that a strong advance 

 cm be made. 



As an illustration of the wide divergeuce 

 of opinion as to what poplar lumber should 

 bring, we cite the instance of a Chicago 

 lumberman who sent out an inquiry for a 

 certain kind and grade of poplar. One of 

 the leading poplar concerns of the country 

 quoted the stock at ?G0. Ohio river 

 delivery, and the dealer botiglit it at 

 .><4S. In the iioplar market it is the 

 old story of the little mills. They 

 ,\re putting poplar on the market at 

 lirices considerably lower than the list of 

 the .Manufacturers' Association. This stock 

 is not coming in lar.ge quantities, but it is 

 comiug and will continue to come until the 

 loads break up. Then the lar.ge mills, hav- 

 ing good stocks, will have their innings, 

 and will undoubtedly market their product 

 ;it good prices. Even at present the weak- 

 ness in poplar is largely in the lower 

 grades, of which the little mills prodm-e 

 :.linndantly. 



Oak Inmber is in better supply than it 

 was earlier in the year, but jirices are still 

 well maintained. One feature of the situ- 

 ation of late is the appearance in northei-n 

 markets of southern mauufacturei-s and 

 dealers olTering stock for sale for the first 

 time in two or three years. For the first 

 tinn^ in a good while they are finding it 

 necessary to leave home to look up a mar- 

 ket for their stock. 



In northern hardwoods the situation is 

 as strong as at any time in the past, there 

 not being a weak item on the list, and 

 there is every indication that all of this 

 season's cut of nortuern hardwoods will 

 be marketed at top notch prices. 



When we take into consideration the 

 condition of other lines of industry and 

 trade, and that the .general tendency in all 

 lines is towards lower prices and larger 

 supply, the hardwood trade has cause to 

 congratulate itself upon general conditions 

 in the hardwood trade. There is no large 

 surplus in any line and in almost all lines 

 the sniiply is still very short. 



ONLY ONE LEFT. 



The Kelley Lumber and Shingle Com- 

 pany, of Traverse City, Mich,, in a circu- 

 lar letter to the trade, calls attention to 

 a fact that may have escaped the notice 

 of buyers of white pine, the point being 

 that there is but one mill in .Michigan 

 to-day devoted strictly to the manufacture 

 of white pine. The lettter in part is as 

 follows: 



Ceutlemen:— We presume, on account of 

 .\our liuying white pine lumber from so 

 many different concerns and points, that 

 it has never occurred to you that there is 

 only one mill in the state of Michigan that 

 is manufacturing exclusively white pine 

 Inmber, but this is a fact. 



The only mill that is mauufacluring ex- 

 clusively white pine lumber at the present 

 time is the estate of David Ward, at De- 

 ward. .Mich.: all other manufacturers of 

 white pine are manufacturing hendock and 

 hardwood in connection with their white 

 pine, but (this concern is confined strictly 

 to the manufacturing of white pine. 



Along early in 1850. David Wnrd was 

 aliout one of the first in Michigan to real- 

 ize the future value of white pine stump- 

 age, and during the early years he trav- 

 eled through the northern part of the 

 lower peninsula of the state of Michigan 

 and selected personally some of the ver.v 

 choicest white pine stumpage in the state. 

 He manufactured only a small amount of 

 this timber himself, but after his death, 

 which occurred about three years ago. his 

 estate constructed at Deward the best and 

 mo.st modernly equipped saw mill that is 

 operating in the state of Michigan to-day. 

 and they are now nninufactnring the tim- 

 ber that was so carefully selected by .Mr. 

 \\'ard fift.v years ago. 



The Kelley Compan.v take occasion to 

 announce at the same time that they have 

 purchased the entire outi)ut of coramou 

 lumber from this mill, and propose to 

 h.mdle it direct from the mill to the trade 

 in car lots. It is especially a choice lot 

 of stock for the additional reason that all 

 of the stock better than common is cut 

 into thick, and ever.vthing that conies out 

 in the common thickness is left in, and 

 in that way there is always a small per- 

 centage lietter th;in comnion i>iled into thi- 

 conimon grade.s. 



.Vrticles <if incorporation have been tiled 

 ill .Vrkans.is for the Thomas & Proelz 

 I. limber Compan.v of St. Loui.s, with I.. V. 

 Berry of .Marion. Crittendon Count.v. as 

 agent for the state of .\rkansas. 



