February 25, 1917 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



47 



held up. The car shortage instead of improving is agfti& in— bad shape, 

 and trafBc conditions are anything but salisfactory. Recent advances in 

 prices have been received by the consumers as a foregone conclusion, and 

 no kiclis are being registered, although some consumers north of the Ohio 

 are unable to understand why deliveries can not be made. Northern woods, 

 such as birch, basswood and maple, are selling more freely, due to the 

 increase of cost in southern hardwoods. Oak at present is showing up better 

 than at any previous time in a ten-year period, quartered moving freely 

 to the veneer mills, while plain is going well with the flooring and other 

 large consumers. Flooring plants are especially busy, most of them work- 

 ing full time. In the gum market the demand has shown improvement 

 «ven at higher prices. Poplar is active, both in siding and boxboards, 

 while there is also a good demand for walnut and mahogany dimension 

 stock. Veneers of all kinds are moving well, the vicinity plants being 

 rushed with orders for high grade veneers in oak, walnut, mahogany, etc., 

 of various cuts. Bad weather in the South has held back production, 

 and the car shortage also cuts a figure. Manufacturers report that their 

 books now hold more orders than ever before known, and orders are still 

 pouring in. With the exception of traffic conditions, the market is in a 

 highly satisfactory state. 



=-< ST. LOUIS >■- 



The lumber business is fairly satisfactory. A few days of mild weather 

 will do much to create a better demand. Prices are being well maintained 

 and the prospects are that they will continue to be so. The country yards 

 are doing some buying, although not in large quantities as yet and they are 

 buying only for their immediate needs. 



The yellow pine situation is rather healthy. There is a fairly good 

 ■demand although the car situation is very troublesome, especially when 

 the shipments go to points where there is an embargo. Shipments to these 

 points are uncertain and they are being held up and much delayed. Prices 

 are being sustained and some advances are noted on many classes of stock. 

 There is an extraordinary call for large and small timbers and quite a lot 

 of material for bridge and car building is being bought. Retail yard 

 buying is good and is subject to weather conditions. 



The demand for cypress in this territory is satisfactory, both in demand 

 and in prices, which are firm. The handlers ar^ optimistic as to prices 

 and they believe that, with the winter season drawing to a close, the yards 

 will begin to buy supplies more liberally for their spring needs. Inquiries 

 are becoming more numerous and all signs point to a good call with the 

 coming of mild weather. 



The demand for hardwood continues as good as could be expected at 

 this season. There never was a better prospect for spring buying. The 

 demand is being well distributed. Plain and quartered oak is in the lead. 

 Orders for these classes of oak are greater than can be supplied with any 

 degree of promptness. Gum, cottonwood and ash are also in good request. 

 All classes of consumers are coming into the market. This is particularly 

 true in regard to box factories. A more encouraging feature of the market 

 is the continued urgent demand for car oak, for quick delivery. It is 

 believed that with the coming of the spring season this item will become 

 quite active. 



Although there is a fairly good business being done by the sash and door 

 factories, trade is not rushing with them. A number of contracts are on 

 hand and many more, it is believed, will be placed within the next thirty 

 days. There is only a fair volume of out-of-town work being called for. 

 The demand for stock goods in the South, West and Southwest, is increas- 

 ing. The indications *for an increase of this class of work are good for 

 an unusual activity at the plants during the spring and early summer 

 months. 



=■< MILWAUKEE >-- 



There seems to be only one really unfavorable factor in the hardwood 

 lumber industry of northern Wisconsin, and that is the dire shortage of 

 railroad cars. This situation affects not only the problem of getting logs 

 from the woods to the mills, but of getting the lumber from the mills to 

 the yards and industries. For more than three months the trafflc isituation 

 has been growing worse until at this time it has reached the most acute 

 stage known in the history of the northern hardwood industry. Mills 

 have been obliged to curtail production at a time when the demand is the 

 heaviest in years, because the railroads are not able to take care of their 

 requirements for logs until such a time as the waterways are open and 

 tile drives can be sent away from the camps to provide sawing stocks for 

 the season's run. 



Buyers probably are in a worse position than for several years because 

 their stocks are very low or exhausted and the mills are able to ship only 

 a small portion of their lumber. Mill yards are full of lumber, but there 

 is no way of amelorating this condition until the carriers are able to supply 

 more rolling stock. From every part of the hardwood country come reports 

 that the cut in the woods during the last three months is the heaviest since 

 at least 1908, and will exceed that of every season since then by from 

 50 to 100 per cent. Huge quantities of logs are decked at railroad lines 

 and the streams, awaiting an outlet. The mills are prepared for the largest 

 runs they ever have known. As March 1 approaches, the carriers are 

 promising some relief, and if they are able to make good on these promises, 

 conditions in the northern hardwood market doubtless will be the best 

 they have ever been. 



WANTED 



FOR IMMEDIATE SHIPMENT 



3 cars 4 4 13 to 17" Cottonwood Box Boards 

 2 cars 4 4 No. 1 C. «& B. Plain Red Oak 

 1 car 5 4 No. 1 C. & B. Plain Red Oak 

 1 car 6/4 No. 1 C. & B. Plain Red Oak 



1 car 8 4 No. 1 C. & B. Plain Red Oak 



2 cars 8 4 No. 1 C. & B. Plain White Oak 

 1 car 4 4 No. 1 Shop Cypress, S2S 



QUOTE PROMPTLY 



Payson Smith Lumber Co. 



MINNEAPOLIS MINNESOTA 



Williams 



Lumber 



Company 



FAYETTEVILLE 

 TENNESSEE 



-MANUFACTURERS- 



Middle Tennessee 

 HARDWOODS 



Soft -Textured Qtd. Oak a Specialty 



All Three of Us Will Be Benefited if You MenUon HARDWOOD RECORD 



