HARDWOOD RECORD 



31 



ing operations and had much to do with in- 

 creasing the output. The receipts of stocks are, 

 of course, still somewhat restricted by the rail- 

 road car shortage, although this difficulty has 

 been in part remedied. 



(lood dry oak leads in activity, all desirable 

 stocks being taken up without delay. Manu- 

 facturers of office furniture and other consumers 

 are buying with comparative freedom, and the 

 movement locally as well as out of town is 

 large. The disposition among dealers to engage 

 In manufacturing and thus secure a steady 

 source of supply is more pronounced, and vari- 

 ous deals are under consideration. Trices are 

 firm and, from present indications, will remain 

 so for an indefinite period. Ash is also in 

 strong request, with quotations firm. The avail- 

 able supplies here are large enough to meet cur- 

 rent wants, but it cannot be said that much of 

 a surplus exists. Poplar shows some improve- 

 ment, though not as pronounced as other woods, 

 and manufacturers feel more encouraged. The 

 mills are fairly busy now, but there are also 

 current reports that prices fluctuate and are far 

 from reflecting the conditions that prevail in 

 the oak trade. The export movement seems to 

 be somewhat more active, the foreign buyer 

 showing a pronounced disposition to meet the 

 terms of the American shippers. Chestnut, ma- 

 hogany and walnut are all in good shape, the 

 domestic demand for walnut especially. Ma- 

 hogany is called for by manufacturers of store 

 fixtures and for similar purposes. The entire 

 export situation is suggestive of increasing 

 strength, and the shippers feel considerably en- 

 couraged over the outlook. 



Pittsburg. 



Midwinter finds the Pittsburg Iiardwood 

 market in good condition. The prospects for 

 higher prices in the fall have heen realized to 

 some extent, although not so much as in the 

 pines and liemlock. Quotations on several 

 woods have been advanced since the first of 

 December, and for the best grades of hard- 

 wood many buyers are now willing to pay a 

 good premium. This is true of good mill woric 

 as well as of dry stocks of oak and chestnut. 



The open weather has brouglit about a re- 

 markable inquiry for hardwood for building 

 purposes. The brief spell of really cold 

 weather that has struck the Pittsburg district 

 is a boon to many iiardwood localities where 

 the snow is being made good use of to bring 

 in logs from a distance. The recent floods in 

 West Virginia have caused some bad delays 

 there in operations in hardwood, but there 

 has been no deep snow to impede work. The 

 labor problem has been a serious one there 

 most of the winter, owing to the fact that the 

 mills and factories are taking a large propor- 

 tion of the men who formerly worked in tlie 

 woods. 



The hardwood firms are enlarging their 

 scope of operations and preparing all along 

 the line for a record breaking year. Many 

 salesmen have been added to the local forces 

 since Christmas, An effort will be made this 

 year to cover the middle west from Pittsburg 

 much more thoroughly than ever before, and 

 several firms are making special efforts to get 

 a better hold in the furniture, carriage and 

 automobile manufactories. Last year the trade 

 was more concerned with the big orders for 

 heavy timbers but this season every line of 

 hardwood consumer will get a hard raking 

 over by the Pittsburg lookouts. 



Prices are very firirviy held. Oak bids fair 

 to go higher soon, especially the better grades. 

 Sound wormy chestnut is quite a leader in 

 the market. Maple fiooring is stiff at pre- 

 vailing prices. Hickory, ash. birch and wal- 

 nut are being sold in smaller quantities to 

 the manufacturers, the inquiry from the big 

 eastern factories being much larger since the 

 first of the year. A notable feature of the 

 market demand is the call for car building 

 lumber of all sorts. 



Buffalo. 



The hardwood market is improving every 

 day, as it should, for it has not been on a 

 level with other lumber generally, though 

 there has been good money made in the busi- 

 ness during the past year and the hardwood 

 dealers are able to say they, too, have had a 

 fine January all along the line and the situa- 

 tion is improving. There is shortage of logs 

 at the southern sawmills, so that the supply 

 is not likely to be what it should be for some 

 time, and there is every prospect of a strong 

 price for oak and poplar for an indefinite time 

 and no falling off at all, while general busi- 

 ness is good. The supply of quartered oak 

 is as usual, better than of plain, but it is not 

 in overstock and will profit by the scarcity of 

 plain and of birch. It is the general opinion 

 that the relation of supply and demand is 

 such that there will be no slack prices in oak 

 right away. 



The effort to keep chestnut in stock goes on 

 and there is considerable of it moving all the 

 time, but it is not allowed to remain in yard 

 any length of time. Prices are close to those 

 of plain oak and there will be no surplus till 

 the demand falls oft very much. It is the 

 same with ash as before. When a dealer 

 gets a lot of black ash he feels so much elated 

 that he sells it all at once and then goes 

 without till he makes another find. Cypress 

 demand is good. 



Saginaw, 



The hardwood situation in thi.s neck o' 

 woods is satisfactory. The industry has not 

 been particularly active since the beginning 

 of the year, but some manufacturers have 

 contracted for large lots which are yet to 

 be cut, and prices are very firm. There isn't 

 much available hardwood lumber on the local 

 market and the tendency is toward higher 

 prices. 



Maple promises to be particularly firm this 

 year and demand for fiooring also looks good. 

 Ash and oak have been strong factors right 

 along, but supplies of those commodities are 

 scarce, the timber having been pretty well 

 cleaned up. Beech and birch are firm, but 

 elm has not yet manifested much strength. 

 It is going to be some time yet before there 

 will be any considerable quantity of hardwood 

 on the market. Tlie mills are running, but it 

 takes time for stock to season. It is ex- 

 pected over 50.000,000 feet will be manufac- 

 tured in the valley this year, and the product 

 of many of the interior mills comes here. 

 Local dealers are scouring mill points all 

 through the northern portion of the state, 

 picking up lumber that has been manufac- 

 tured and making contracts for stock to be 

 cut where it is possible to do so. 



Milwaukee. 



Conditions are exceptionally good and satis- 

 factory prices are being realized. The demand 

 continues more than equal to the suppl.v, espe- 

 cially for thoroughl.v dry stock, supplies of 

 which are very low. The markt^t for all hard- 

 woods is brisk and active. 



Indianapolis. 



Hardwood men of Indianapolis say that the 

 year has started out well. The business for Jan- 

 uary came up to expectations. Prom the con- 

 tractors and architects the lumbermen learn that 

 the building prospects for the present year are 

 particularly bright. The year may not come 

 up to 1005. but it is safe to predict that busi- 

 ness in the building line, will be of a large vol- 

 ume. The permits for January amounted to 

 $168,945. 



Prices on all hardwoods are reported high. 

 In fact, since fall practically every grade of 

 lumber has been increased in price, and some 

 grades have been advanced twice. Plain and 

 quartered oak are both in active demand. 



Cincinnati. 



Activity and strength have been character- 

 istic of the local hardwood market during the 

 past two weeks, and sharp advances are pre- 

 dicted by even the most conservative. Dry 

 stocks in nearly all classes of hardwoods are 

 the lowest for many months, and as advices 

 from producing centers in Kentucky and West 

 Virginia are to the effect that weather con- 

 ditions are proving a serious menace, further 

 depletion in supplies are naturally expected. 

 Furniture manufacturers and wagon makers 

 have tested the market in the last fortnight 

 and indications are that a number of big 

 orders will be placed by them in the near 

 future, in addition to their seasonable wants. 

 The inquiry from foreign sources has not in- 

 creased to any material extent, but there is no 

 worry manifested on that account, as the de- 

 mand from domestic sources is fully suffi- 

 cient to satisfy everybody. There has been no 

 abatement in the car situation. There seems 

 to be a sufficiency of cars, most of the trouble 

 being caused by Cincinnati's poor switching 

 facilities. Weather conditions at present are 

 unfavorable to building operations, and there 

 is at this time little prospect of "opening" 

 conditions. This is the only distressing feature 

 to be reported. 



Plain oak. in desirable thicknesses, has been 

 the best seller, with cypress running a close 

 second. Quartered oak has met with a steady 

 call at full values. Some improvement is 

 noted in the demand for high-grade poplar, 

 while common and culls, which have been 

 rather quiet for some time, give evidences of 

 better movement also. Chestnut and ash 

 proved good sales at strong prices, while other 

 hardwoods readily maintained their former 

 position. 



Chattanooga. 



Chattanooga lumbermen are now interested 

 more in their supplies for the year perhaps than 

 any other subject. They are all well pleased 

 with the trade so far this year and the prospects 

 for the coming months, but are worried about 

 stocks. There is hardly any dry stock in the 

 local yards, and any sort of stock is hard to 

 get. Local mills all have representatives scour- 

 ing the country for stock. 



The demand fur hardwoods is now more ac- 

 tive than it has been for some time. There are 

 numerous inquiries, many of which are turned 

 down because it is impossible to get stock. The 

 winter has been a mild but wet one, and log- 

 ging has been handicapped to a great extent. 

 The demand for all grades of oak is holding up 

 well, because of the great activity in furniture 

 and vehicle manufacturing. 



The consensus of opinion is that all grades of 

 hardwood will continue to advance on account 

 of the high cost of production, the scarcity of 

 timber and the increased demand. Because of 

 the fact that many mills have been trying to 

 sell at such a low rate, they have been forced 

 out of business. There are very few small 

 mills in existence in the timber belt of this 

 section. 



St. Iiouis. 



There has been but little change in hard- 

 wood conditions at this point the past two 

 weeks. Since the opening of the year there 

 lias been more getting ready to do business 

 than the actual transaction of business no- 

 ticeable, but now there is a more or less ac- 

 tive inquiry and demand springing up from 

 many quarters. There has been much inter- 

 ference with logging operation by reason of 

 bad weather, and the receipts have been ac- 

 cordingly low. The result of all this is that 

 there is no superabundance of stocks, and 

 almost everyone in the business expects 

 higher prices before many months pass. 

 Prices are decidedly strong. The wood mostly 

 in demand is oak, both red and white, plain 



