Published In the Interest of Hardwood Lumber, American Hardwood Forests, Wood Veneer Industry, Hardwood Flooring, 

 Hardwood Interior Finish, Wood Chemicals, Saw Mill and Woodworking Machinery. 



Vol. XIX. 



CHICAGO. MARCH 25, 1905. 



No. II. 



flHwolRecoffl 



Published on (he 10th and 25th of each month 



By The HARDWOOD COMPAINY 



HENRY H. GIBSON 

 FRANK W. TUTTLE 



President 

 Sec-Treas. 



OFFICES: 

 Sixth Floor Ellsworth Bldg., 355 Dearborn St., Chicago, III., U.S.A. 



Telephones: tlarrison 4960. Automatic 5659. 



TERMS OF AIMNUAL SUBSCRIPTION: 



In the United States, Canada, Philippine Islands and Mexico $2.00 



In all other countries in universal postal union 3.00 



Subscriptions are payable in advance, and in default of written orders to the 

 contrary are continued at our option. 



Entered at Chicago Postoffice as Second Class Matter. 



AdTcrtising copy must be received five days in advance 

 of publication date. Advertising rates on application. 



General Market Conditions. 



The general feeling- throughout all hardwooil manut'aeturing, ilis- 

 tributing and consuming sections is still remarkably hopeful, as will 

 be seen by the individual market reports covering nearly all manu- 

 facturing and distributing centers throughout the United States, 

 Traile, on the whole, is starting off very nell ; in some sections the 

 demand is strong and prices very firm. In others there is a feeling 

 of hesitancy which almost amounts to a halting of trade, awaiting 

 further developments. 



The demand for plain sawed oak is still much in excess of available 

 stocks, and the price is ranging comparatively high. These extraor- 

 dinary values will undoubtedly stimulate production so that later in 

 the season oak may possibly come back nearly to normal price, but 

 this opinion is conjectural, as the oak of this country is getting to 

 be oak. The available sources of supply are becoming very nmch 

 restricted, and this is especially true of the wood of fine physical 

 quality. 



I'ntil it can be figured out how much poplar there actually is in 

 sight for the present season, there is going to be a hesitancy about 

 making many advance purchases. It is the opinion of the Hardwood 

 Eecord that when the figures are all in, it will be found that poplar 

 is still short. The trade generally, notably the eastern trade, which 

 look on a good deal of cypress and gum last year as a substitute for 

 poplar, is not pleased by the change it made, and probably the east 

 can be counted on to consume from 50,000,000 to 100,000,000 feet 

 more of poplar this year than it did during 1904. If this prophecy 

 materializes it surely will stimulate the price of basswood and cotton- 

 wood, which invariably follow the trend of poplar values. 



There is no particular change manifest in the condition prevailing 

 in northern hardwoods over that recited a fortnight ago. It is prob- 

 able that fully one-half the year's cut of maple, birch, elm and bass- 

 wood is sold under advance contracts, and thus the price for the year 

 has been fairly well established. 



In the southern woods, ash and hickory are scarce and high, and 

 many of the leading distributing markets of the south are entirely 

 stripped of nearly every item of oak. 



Walnut and cherry are holding their own in fine shape, with a good 

 accretion of value in sight. 



There is a very conjectural outlook for mahogany. The consump- 

 tion of the solid wood in mahogany has not materially increased in 

 spite of its apparently having done so. The increase in consiunp- 

 tion has been very largely made up of veneer work. It is undeniably 

 true that there is plain wood enough in this country to fulfill the 

 entire trade requirements for the next twelve months, and quite a 

 number of concerns are so organized that it will be impossible for 

 them to stop their operations or reduce the quantity of imports of 

 logs for many months to come. This will doubtless result in placing 

 mahogany of the ordinary sort at a low price. Even today, mahogany 

 in relative value, is the lowest priced wood sold in the United States. 

 Should oak continue to climb up in price, it would naturally stimu- 

 late the mahogany demand by inducing the utilization of more solid 

 wood in furniture construction. The demand for mahogany also de- 

 pends quite largely on the building of passenger coaches. When the 

 car companies are not building coaches, the mahogany trade is pretty 

 dull. If there be heavy orders for additional equipment of this sort, 

 this will help out that branch of the trade. 



The veneer industry is increasing to the extent that all woods suit- 

 able for veneer base, like wormy chestnut and gum, are showing 

 strong demand and a higher trend of value. 



New Forces at the Fore. 



In its new officers and board of trustees the National Wholesale 

 Lumber Dealers ' Association, whose thirteenth annual convention 

 was held at Philadelphia March 1 and 2, is particularly fortunate. 



The new president of the association, Lewis Dill of Baltimore, i-- 

 a man who can most aptly be described as "broad gauged.'' Per 

 sonally, his business is confined to North Carolina and long leaf 

 pine, of which he is a wholesaler, but beyond this he has a well- 

 trained mind in most other details of the lumber trade. From an 

 acquaintance with this gentleman covering a good many years the 

 Hardwood Record is of the opinion that he will broaden out and 

 strengthen the association during the coming year more than has 

 ever been done in any year of its history. He is a thorough believer 

 in the good that can be obtained from association work, and has 

 been foremost in the city of Baltimore in bringing order out of 

 chaos in that catholic market of American woods. He is a thor- 

 ough advocate of the policy that the good of the community is 

 reflected in good to the individual. Mr. Dill is an honest man, a 

 forceful man, and withal a diplomat; and the acclaim with which his 

 election was received at Philadelphia will be reflected in the good 

 work that he will perform for the association. 



For the first time in the history of the National Wholesale Lumber 

 Dealers' Association, the hardwood element of the trade has received 

 a just recognition. Four of the seven new trustees elected are 

 strictly hardwood men. The total number of trustees is twenty-one, 

 of which seven are hardwood men, and eight others are more or less 

 interested in the hardwood end of the industry. With such a staff 

 President Dill will be able to accomplish much good to the hardwood 



