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Published in the Interest of the American Hardwood Forests, the Products thereof, and Logging, Saw 

 Mill and Wood- Working Machinery, on the lOth and 25th of each Month, by 



THE HARDWOOD COMPANY 



Henry H. Gibson, Editor and Manager 



Edwin W. Meeker"! . . _.. 



^Associate h-dilors 



Hu Maxwell 



Entire Seventh Floor Elltworth Building 

 537 So. Dearborn Street, CHICAGO 

 Telephones: Harrison 8086-8087-8088 





Vol. XXXV 



CHICAGO, JANUARY 10, 1913 



No. 6 





Review and Outlook 



General Market Conditions 



WITH NO POSSIBILITY of a material change in the stock situa- 

 tion during the next five or six months, the general hard- 

 wood market continues on the same firm basis that it has main- 

 tained for several months in the past. The upward trend of prices 

 has continued and it is anticipated that further advances will be 

 noted in some items. No excess stock is reported in any section 

 of the country, even though northern mills are having splendid 

 logging weather and are now equipped with their full quota of 

 woodsmen, but the unusual shortage will more than offset any increased 

 production that might result from increased mill activity. 



With modern methods of perpetual stock reports, the inventory 

 season does not stretch out over the long period that it used to. 

 As a consequence a fair percentage of the buyers have gotten 

 back into the market. There is still to be noted, however, a 

 tendency to give inventory-taking as an excuse for not placing 

 orders. It is doubtful though that this hesitancy is with the 

 view of waiting for a break in prices, as every intelligent buyer 

 is undoubtedly well aware of the staunchness of present market 

 values on hardwoods. 



The general opinion of the trade continues to be that the com- 

 ing year will be one of the strongest that hardwoods have ever 

 experienced. The opinion is usually expressed, however, that the 

 strength will not be in the nature of a boom, but of a healthy 

 and steady increase in the demand for products of the hardwood 

 forests. 



The Hardwood Situation — Past and Present 



I'T IS CUSTOMARy at this time of the year for the average 

 lumberman to review the immediate past of his business and 

 analyze the immediate future prospects in as careful and pains- 

 taking a manner as possible. As history notoriouslj' repeats itself, 

 this is the only means he has of making logical plans for the 

 future. 



To go back to 1911: This year was really the final one in 

 which all commercial enterprises were dragging, and the hardwood 

 lumber business was no exception to other lines of endeavor. 

 Business was dull, stocks accumulated; and while the good end 

 of the hardwood product was sold, but at much below its true 

 value, the coarser grades piled up in what was then regarded 

 an appalling magnitude. 



Quite early in 1912 hardwood lumber commenced moving more 

 freely, at advanced prices, and even before midsummer there was 

 very little high-grade lumber either in first hands or in the 



possession of ultimate consumers; and users of hardwood com- 

 menced to figure seriously on the utilization of lower grades in 

 the belief that they could be profitably employed. The sales of 

 low-grade lumber gradually increased until at the end of 1912 

 there was just as serious a shortage in low-grade stock as there 

 was in high-grade. To be sure, the extreme coarse end of hard- 

 wood went into the crating and box business quite largely, but 

 the medium low grades have to a wonderful extent taken the 

 place of No. 1 common and firsts and seconds in many lines of 

 jjroduction. 



At the opening of 1913 hardwood stocks are very low the 

 country over, and in a good many lines there is an absolute 

 famine. This is notably true in plain oak, but a good many other 

 woods are in nearly the same situation. 



To epitomize: Desirable hardwoods of all varieties are in 

 remarkably short supply at the present time, and the demand is 

 strong with prices steadily strengthening. 



In hardwoods there seems to be no menace in sight in the way 

 of a possible over-production. While there are many more small 

 operators in hardwoods than there are in the building wood manu- 

 facture, the small operators are gradually growing fewer in 

 number and timber holdings are now quite largely grouped in 

 large blocks and are in the hands of strong ownership. It is 

 doubtful if dt will be possible to ever again create a marked 

 over-stock of hardwood lumber, as the hardwood areas of the 

 country are very much proscribed and essentially all important 

 sources of supply are now in the hands of operators. 



The hardwood situation is in very much better shape prospec- 

 tively than the building woods. The Northwest has still untold 

 millions of high-class conifers that undeniably will be crowded 

 onto the market for years to come, but in hardwoods this condi- 

 tion cannot obtain. A comparatively small hardwood area must 

 supply the entire country east and west, as well as a not incon- 

 siderable foreign demand. 



It must be borne in mind that hardwood production today con- 

 stitutes only about twenty per cent of the total lumber produced 

 in the country, and beyond this there is a fast-growing demand 

 for hardwoods that can scarcely be met by the supply. The in- 

 creased wealth of the nation, better taste and better judgment 

 all contribute to a marked increased use of hardwoods for flooring 

 and finishing purposes in all building construction. Even low- 

 priced cottages are today finished in hardwoods of beauty and 

 permanence. This demand will probably increase rather than 

 diminish for years to come, as the attempts to introduce steel 

 and other alleged fireproof materials for the finishing of high- 

 class structures generally seem to be regarded as futile and unde- 



