The Hardwood Record 



VOL. XIX. 



CHICAGO, NOVEMBER 25, 1904. 



No. 3 



The Hardwood Record. 



PUBLISHED BY 



C. V. KIMBALL, 



ON THE 10TH AND 2STH OF EACH MONTH. 

 134 MONROE STREET, - CHICAGO, ILL. 



C. D. STRODE • - - - EDITOR. 



ENTERED AT CHICAGO POST OFFICE AS 

 SeCOND-CLASS MATTER. 



TERMS OF subscription: 



U. 8., Canada and Mexico $1.00 per year. 



Foreign Countries 2.00 per year. 



ADVERTISING RATES ON APPLICATION. 



Contributions on subjects of interest 

 to lumbermen are invited from any 

 person. Subscribers and others arc re- 

 quested to notify us of changes in per- 

 sonnel or organizations of hardwood 

 lumber firms. We desire especially to 

 receive particulars of installation of 

 new plants, transfers of property and 

 timber holdings and experiments in 

 new methods of manufacturing or the 

 utilization of by-products. New publi- 

 cations of interest to the trade, including 

 catalogues, stock lists and circulars will 

 receive attention if sent to this office. 

 Our columns are also available for 

 criticism and comment on any article 

 published or for news of any sort con- 

 cerning the hardwood trade. 



Our readers will confer a favor when 

 writing to advertisers if they will state 

 that they saw the advertisement in the 

 Hardwood Record. This is little 

 trouble and costs nothing, but it helps 

 us and is information wanted by the 

 advertiser. 



THE BUSINESS SITUATION. 



This is the time to stand firm. Don't 

 expect your lumber to advance three or 

 four dollars a thousand, all in a minute. 

 At the same time you can rest assured of 

 an ultimate advance. And do not con- 

 tract your lumber for future delivery at 

 too low a price. 



We were talking to a gentleman from 

 North Dakota and he told us that in the 

 face of a big crop the farmers in his sec- 

 tion were getting from $1.10 to $1.15 a 

 bushel for their wheat. The farmers in 

 the corn belt, with one of the best crops 

 on record, are getting 50 cents a bushel 

 for their corn out of the field. And the 

 planters of the South, with one of the 

 biggest crops on record, are getting 10% 

 to 11 cents for it. This, taken in con- 

 nection with the high price of hogs, 

 cattle, potatoes and other farm products, 

 spells general prosperity. It means new 

 houses, new barns and all sorts of build- 

 ings; it means new furniture, new imple- 

 ments, in short, a good demand for lum- 

 ber. 



And we find that there is but very little 

 lumber in the country. I hear of So-and-so 

 having a big stock of logs up the river, 

 in the poplar section, but no lumber on 

 hand. Throughout the oak section there 

 is no plain oak and very little quartered, 

 and other lumbers in proportion. And the 

 demand is bound to come. 



There is this difference between the 

 present and former periods of depression. 

 There is not excessive stocks in any line. 

 The present depression appears to come 

 from the slackness of demand rather than 

 from a superabundance of stock. 



And we believe the demand has caught 

 up with the supply in all lines. We never 

 saw a presidential year that did not bring a 

 let-up in the demand, but at present stocks 

 are low and the lumbermen should have a 

 good season.^ We do not look for much to 

 be doing before the first of the year, but 

 the next season should show up well. 



There is not any plain-sawed oak worth 

 mentioning. Lumber buyers ot every de- 

 scription are scouring the country for 

 them, and still we hear of some sales that 

 are made at a ridiculously low figure. 

 This is all wrong and shows that there 

 are some lumbermen who are either hard 

 pressed for money or don't understand the 

 situation. 



There is no change for quarter-sawed 

 oak. The good grades are still firm and 

 only want concerted action to bring a high 



price. The lower grades are not in so 

 great a demand. 



Poplar is still weak, though goodness 

 knows why. They have no tides in the 

 rivers and no heavy stocks on hand, 

 but somehow the price still saws. Some 

 one wants to take a brace. 



Cottonwood is doing well and is said to 

 have advanced severad dollars a thousand. 

 So if you have any cottonwood you can 

 afford to be firm. 



Gum, ash and other hardwood of the 

 South are doing well and holding their 

 own. 



The northern hardwood conditions are 

 somewhat mixed. Close of navigation 

 finds no weakness in the price of maple. 

 The Michigan Maple Company is firm 

 in its demands, although there is some 

 stock carried over. The test will come 

 when the new crop of logs is put in. There 

 isn't much maple standing, and if it can 

 be controlled so as to put it on the market 

 in moderate quantities it will bear a good 

 price. If, however, those who own stum- 

 page insist in putting it on the market 

 all at one time they must take what they 

 can get. 



Other northern hardwoods are about the 

 same as last report. 



THE BAILBOADS. 



It is a fact beyond dispute that the 

 railroads have the business interests of 

 the country by the throat and can shut 

 off the wind of the said business interests 

 whenever they see fit to do so. They 

 can make or unmake a town, community 

 or industry. By means of a secret re- 

 bate to favorites they can make or break 

 a shipper in any line of business. These 

 things they can do when they see fit. 

 That they do not always exercise their 

 power is a fact to their credit, but that 

 they have that power and exercise it in 

 certain cases is beyond question. ' 



And now they are talking about com- 

 bining all the railroads of the country 

 under one management. For years it has 

 been pointed out that this was the ulti- 

 mate result of the work of combining the 

 railroad interests of the country, but 

 when actual notice that it was being at- 

 tempted was first served upon the peo- 

 ple, it came as a shock. 



Well, it was pointed out also that the 



consolidation of the railroads under one 



management would tend to hasten the 



time when the United States government 



would take them over and operate them 



