so 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



WANTED 



All Kinds of High-Grade 



HARDWOODS 



S. E. SLAYMAKER & CO 



Representing Fifth Avenue Buildin?. 



WEST VIKGINIA SPRUCE LUJIBER CO., '^'" .vMTtl, v/^d^ 

 Cass, West Virginia. NEW YORK. 



Mutual Fire Insurance 



Best Indemnity at Lowest Net Cost 

 Can Be Obtained From 



Boston, Mass. 



The Lumber Mutual Fire Insurance Company, 



The Lumbermen's Mutual Insurance Company, 



Mansfield, Ohio. 



The Pennsylvania Lumbermen's Mutual Fire Insurance Company, 



Philadelphia, Pa. 



The Indiana Lumbermen's Mutual Insurance Company, 



Indianapolis, Ind. 



The Central Manufacturers' Mutual Insurance Company, 



Van Wert, Ohio 



Timber Values 



Timber is cheaper today than it was tliirty years ago. 



That is our sober conclusion after a review of all the 

 facts that influence or touch timber values. 



Thirty years ago neither timber nor its products was 

 worth much. If logs would not produce a heavy percentage 

 of high grade stock they were worthless and being worth- 

 less were left in the woods. 



Timber is being used more closely. It is in request for 

 many purposes of which the early operators did not dream. 

 To its use as lumber and in similar forms is being added a 

 demand for timber as the raw material for chemical treat- 

 ment. For such use wood of sound quality is required, 

 knot, shake and crook defects which render logs valueless 

 for lumber do not reduce their value for chemical treatment. 



Thirty years ago about 25 per cent of the timber In a 

 forest was used. Today there is an outlet for possibly 60 

 per cent of it. Within another decade we expect to see 80 

 per cent of it used — a gain of 33% per cent. 



Every addition to the list of wood users gives added value 

 to timber of all kinds by broadening the market for it. 



All timber owners are sharing in this constant betterment 

 in prices. Do you own timber? 



James D. Lacey & Co. 



Timber Land Factors 



Chicago, 1750 McCormick Building 



Portland, 1104 Spalding Building 



Seattle, 1009 White Building 



some mouths to come. The open winter has given an impetus to building 

 work, and a big year is anticipated. 



Among the hardwoods plain oak is distinctly the scarcest article on 

 the market, with prices climbing dangerously high ; many orders are 

 turned down because of lack of supply ; quartered oak is forging ahead ; 

 ash is in great demand : the better grades of chestnut are inclined 

 to lag, while sound wormy chestnut, 4/4, 5/4 and 8/4 is very active. 

 Maple, beech, cherry and basswood hold good position. Low grades 

 only of poplar show activity. The mahogany and veneer market is well 

 sustained ; birch is making new friends. 



.^ PITTSBURGH >-= 



The hardwood situation continues very satisfactory to the man who 

 has lumber to sell. Prices are firm and the prospects are that there will 

 be a tight lumber market all this spring. Demand from the manufac- 

 turers and big industrial concerns and the railroads is keeping up 

 fairly well and there is an undertone of buying sentiment that promises 

 to develop into some fine business for the wholesalers before summer. 

 Everything looks busy for the Pittsburgh district for the first eight 

 months of this year. During the past few weeks there has been some 

 halt in the rush of orders that prevailed just before January, which was 

 accounted tor entirely by political conditions, the fear of a big fire- 

 men's strike on the eastern roads, and the Mexican situation. Among 

 retailers there is a feeling that building will be at least twenty-five 

 per cent greater in volume this year than last. They are increasing 

 their total of inquiries and orders right along, and with a little good 

 weather to encour.ige contractors some big business is expected in 

 this line. 



=-< BOSTON y- 



The general market for hardwood lumber is very firm and the tendency 

 of prices continues upward. Dealers in this market state that the advance 

 is not caused so much by an active demand as it is by the real shortage 

 in the hands of the manufacturer and wholesaler. Dry stock has been in 

 very small supply for some time, and there is no immediate relief in sight. 

 Naturally manufacturers are not anxious sellers at the present time. 



The demand for nearly all classes of hardwood lumber is very fair and 

 the outlook favors an increasing business. Manufacturing consumers are 

 using good-sized quantities right along, and few have more than moderate 

 sized reserve- stocks. One of the features of the Boston market is the 

 strong call for both plain and quartered oak. Plain oak, one inch ones 

 and twos, is firm. It is reported that better than top prices have been 

 paid where quick delivery has been demanded. Quartered oak, one inch, 

 is selling at very good prices. Black walnut has been in fair call, and 

 prices are firm. There has been a very good call for maple of late. 

 Cypress is held in a fairly steady way under a moderately active demand. 



=-< BALTIMORE >- 



The favorable conditions which have obtained in the hardwood trade 

 continue in evidence, being perhaps even more pronounced than formerly. 

 Oak does not seem to h>ive touched the highest figures, with the demand 

 very active and the mills out of stocks. Although large quantities of 

 oak have been shipped abroad, it does not appear that any advance 

 toward congestion has been made, the receipts being picked up as fast 

 as they came to hand, with the result that the entire list is high, the 

 mills are unable to take care of all the demands made upon them and 

 stocks so scarce as to deserve designation as a shortage. The most 

 diligent inquiry fails in many cases to develop sources of supply, and 

 the hardwood man who takes an order without knowing where he can 

 get hold of the lumber to fill it runs the risk of making a loss. There 

 appears to be no really fixed price, each producer naming the figure 

 which to him seems to represent the real value of the lumber asked for, 

 and it follows that there are material variations in ideas of values, 

 a millman who is thoroughly informed being in position to turn his 

 knowledge lo excellent account. Next to oak chestnut appears to be in 

 strong demand, with sound wormy and all other grades being freely called 

 for, and with the quotations cither holding their own or being marked 

 up. Much chestnut is also finding its way abroad, and between the 

 domestic and foreign markets the producers are having all they can 

 do. Common poplar is less strong, the offerings having been rather more 

 plentiful than the requirements of the trade called for. and the freedom 

 of shipment serving to impart an easier tone to the trade. With regard 

 to extra wide stocks, it is also to be said that they still fail to realize 

 the expectations of the producers. Under existing conditions, with the 

 needs of the automobile builders so restricted and with extensive substi- 

 tution of other materials, it is only natural that there should be no 

 special buoyancy in these stocks, which are called for only in com- 

 paratively small lots. Other divisions of the hardwood trade are in 

 the main satisfactory, the lower grades in particular being sought in 

 such quantities that the mills have been unable so far to accumulate 

 stocks in any considerable volume. How to get their wants filled is one 

 of the chief problems of the dealers, who can get orders by simply writing 

 for them but find the supply inadequate. One wholesaler, for instance, 

 stated as an illustration that he had been able to secure only four cars 

 of a certain grade of lumber when he could easily use fourteen. Some 

 trouble on account of a car shortage is also being experienced. Beyond 

 this, however, and the relative inadequacy of the supplies, the hardwood 



