October 25, 1916 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



39 



the rule. Mill stocks are not large In any section. Car stocks are In 

 good demand and railroads are buying liberally. 



Prices are generally well maintained at previous levels and in some 

 instances advances have been recorded. There is no cutting of prices 

 at this time to force trade. Dealers are inclined to ivant profits and 

 are not anxious for volume. Collections are generally good, as money 

 is easy. Quartered and plain oat is in good demand. Poplar is moving 

 fairly well and prices rule firm in all grades. Chestnut is in good 

 demand. Basswood is firm and ash is quiet. Other hardwoods are 

 unchanged. 



=-< CINCINNATI >-= 



Were it not for the curtailment of the shipping movement, the hardwood 

 situation in this district would be encouraging. Orders are plentiful and 

 inquiries are developing in much greater volume than a few weeks ago, but 

 there are numerous cases of big orders going begging because the shipper 

 finds it practically impossible to obtain sufficient cars in which to move the 

 lumber. In some instances, stocks on hand ire getting pretty well thinned 

 out and man.v are rather badly assorted. The car shortage seems most 

 serious in the southern producing centers. Southern pine, however, seems 

 more affected in this respect than the southern hardwoods. .\s a result 

 of the aggravating situation south of the Mason and Dixon line, the north- 

 ern hardwoods are becoming more popular in this market. The increase 

 in the demand for birch has been especially noticeable and good prices are 

 being realized. Birch is a real feature of the market and might be termed 

 the leading seller, although the oaks are beginning to regain much of their 

 lost prestige. Recent inquiries from railroads are greater than for many 

 months and presage a fall lumber boom, according to well posted lumbermen 

 here, who predict that the hardwoods will benefit especially on account of 

 the unusually large requirements of the carriers. 



While the call for red birch leads the northern list and features the mar- 

 ket, the renewed demand for red gum is one of the most encouraging fea- 

 tures of the southern woods. Gum and birch probably are moving in 

 greater volume and orders are more frequent for these two woods than 

 any others in the hardwood list. While the general tone of the local market 

 is fair, there is room for considerable improvement, which is confidently 

 expected by even the conservative lumbermen, they basing their predic- 

 tions upon the unprecedented railroad inquiry and the natural slowing up 

 in all business, to a more or less marked degree, just before a national 

 election. Whatever the outcome November 7, lumbermen expect to benefit 

 by a greatly increased call. 



While unfinished oak lumber is moving better than a while back, there 

 has been something of a slackening in the call for interior trim and froni 

 some quarters there is complaint that the furniture manufacturers are 

 slowing up in their consumption of oak. Birch is getting considerable of 

 this trade, while the gum manufacturers report a good demand from the 

 furniture manufacturers. This has caused a slight retrograde movement 

 in the oak price list. Firsts and seconds, inch stock ash and thicker, are 

 moving in larger volume and better prices are realized. The call for ash 

 is more lively than had been experienced for some time. Sap gum seems 

 to have lost considerable of its popularit.v and prices are similarly de- 

 pressed, some very evident losses being noted during the last couple weeks. 



The box manufacturers continue to buy liberally of the lower grades and 

 prices are held up pretty firm, although there is some discontent reported 

 over the low-grade business. Tlie box concerns seem to constitute practi- 

 cally the entire market for this lumber. 



An increase in price has had the effect of curtailing the movement in 

 cypress to some extent, but new business has been materializing to a suf- 

 ficient extent to aggregate a satisfactory movement, the gain in price off- 

 setting what has been lost in volume of orders. Stocks are in good shape 

 and well assorted. Considerable accumulation is reported at the producing 

 centers, but this is attributed to the fact that the mills are very short on 

 labor and cars more than to a slowing up in the call. 



Building operations are progressing very satisfactorily and indicate a 

 health.v growth throughout the fall months. Shingles and lath are scarce, 

 both showing a gain in price. 



=< TOLEDO > 



Prices on hardwoods are better and the demand is better, but, as one 

 prominent hardwood manufacturer puts it, "with labor scarce, wages 

 higher and less work done, the whole situation becomes muddled up." 

 Labor is extremely scarce and there is considerable unrest in the situa- 

 tion with a tendency toward securing more wages and putting in less 

 time. The general demand for hardwoods is better and this is in a 

 measure attributed by local dealers to the fact that railroads are in 

 the market for considerable new equipment. Furniture factories are in 

 the market for considerable hardwoods and the demand from this source 

 would be much heavier if it were not for the labor scarcity which is 

 greatly felt in this line. Tehicle factories are in the market for good 

 supplies. Elm, plain oak, and ash are in good demand, and there is a 

 large call for maple which is being used as a substitute for high priced 

 white ash by automobile factories. The car shortage is affecting the 

 southern and west coast shipments to a noticeable degree. The general 

 situation would show a generally improved tone if it were not for the 

 peculiar minor considerations which are having some effect on the mar- 

 ket with a tendency toward holding down the wings a little, which 

 otherwise might soar rapidly and high. Hardwood men are optimistic 

 and believe that the future is bright. 



THE WILLIAMSON 

 VENEER CO. 



BALTIMORE 



H MD. B 



American Walnut 



Mahog'any Quartered OaK 



O. Cabinet Veneers of all Kinds 



SwAiN-RoACH Lumber Co. 



Msutufacturers and Wholesalers 

 Of All Kinds of 



Indiana Hardwoods 



A Large Stock of Dry, Plain and 

 Quartered White and Red Oak 

 always on hand. 



S P E C I .4 I- 



Qnartered Black Gum 

 the Indiana Mahogany 



Seymour, Ind. 



Knowing vs. Guessing 



Every lutnberman knows, of course, that even 

 laboratory care would not make it possible to meas- 

 ure every board foot in a tract of standing trees. 

 Even a LACEY BEPOBT is, in the strict sense, 

 an estimate. It is perfectly true, however, that 

 the more elaborate the care and the greater the 

 proportion of actu-al measurement, the nearer to 

 the actual facts an estimate becomes. The skill 

 and experience of the expert timber cruiser are 

 most necessary, but no amount of skill and experi- 

 ence can take the place of science, care and double 

 checking. LACEY EEPORTS are a compound of 

 the proper proportions of experience, skill and sci- 

 ence and will give you the nearest possible approach 

 to actual knowledge of the quantity, quality and 

 distribution of timber in tlie tract you think of 

 buying or selling. Lacey <f" Co.'s International 

 Files are at your service with the stumpage figures 

 of many tracts now in our hands for sale all over 

 the timbered world. You will do well to consult 

 us concerning any transaction involving standing 

 trees. 



Send for our booklet, "Pointers" 



CBICAGO 



1150 McCormick Bldg. 



SEATTLE 



1009 "Wliite Bldg. 



PORTLAND (ORE.) 



1310 northwestern Bank Bldg. 



NEW ORLEANS 



1213 Whitney-Central Bldg. 



All Tliree of U. Will Be Benefited if You Mention HARDWOOD RECORD 



,/ 



