50 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



3%M^"fes^3l 



^ A wood steaming cylinder, the use of 

 Avhich insures the quick drying" of all 

 kinds of Lumber without seasoning de- 

 fects, stain or warp, to less than normal 

 weight and with a minimum shrinkage. 



^ Operating cost much less than yard- 

 ing practice. 



^ Can be employed with or without a 

 dry-kiln. 



^ Lumber from the saw can be air-dried 

 in from ten to forty days; kiln-dried in 

 from one to six days. 



C| A new Kraetzer Preparator is being 

 installed every week Ijy some of the 

 foremost and most astute lumbermen in 

 the country. 



^ The demand for Kraetzer - Cured 

 Lumber, owing to its superior cjuality, 

 is in such excess of supply that it com- 

 mands a handsome premium. 



^ While we know "new ideas hurt some 

 minds as new shoes hurt some feet," 

 will you not investigate? 



f|I Complete information for the asking. 



The Kraetzer Company 



537 South Dearborn Street 

 CHICAGO 



1^^T^£^% 



visible signs of a possible wealiening in values in the near future. The 

 business situation on the whole is very satisfactory and the trade feels 

 encouraged over prospects for summer trading. 



The respective positions of the various woods remain practically the 

 s:\me as a fortnight ago. Plain oak and quartered oak are topliners : 

 ash and maple strong : chestnut continues tirm. with sound wormy in- 

 creasing in popularity : birch and beech are in good call ; poplar !s 

 steady, wide poplar strengthening; cypress lacks snap and shows a slow- 

 ing up in tank sizes ; veneer and mahogany business is brisk. 



=-< PITTSBURGH y. 



In some spots there is a little easinj; off in buying. Wliole-salcrs are 

 not sure whether this has come to stay or whether it is merely a ripple 

 on the surface. In general the business situation here looks fine. Buy- 

 ing ahead in many lines is larger than it has been the past few months, 

 owing to the number of large buildings about to he started in this city. 

 The number and importance of the city buildings or contracting jobs 

 which are being awarded and which will use large amounts of oak and 

 beech is such as to warrant lumbermen in their prediction that business 

 in hardwoods will be a great deal better this fall than this spring. The 

 furniture business keeps up well and so does the demand from implement 

 concerns and vehicle people. Prices throughout the hardwood list are 

 firm, with oak and chestnut scarce and bringing premiums in some stocks. 



.< BOSTON y- 



There has been no abatement in the strength with which prices are 

 held in this market. The manufacturer who makes a concession in pri"e 

 today is either financially weak or he is not planning to deliver what the 

 buyer expects to receive. Practically all advices from manufacturers 

 show small stocks of dry lumber. While himlier buyers may be able to 

 pick up softwoods at lower prices than they could a few weeks ago, the 

 market for hardwoods has grown even firmer than it was. Dealers in 

 this market state plainly that it is difficult for them to locate all the 

 stock they need. 



Manufacturing consumers of hardwood lumber are fairly bu.sy. Tlio 

 piano business has been very good, and reports from furniture manu- 

 facturers are encouraging for the most part. Manufacturers of interior 

 house finish are doing an excellent business and have plenty of work 

 ahead of them. There has been a very good call for veneers in this 

 market. 



I^lain oak has never been so firm as it is at the present time. Offerings 

 are .small and demand is good. Dry stock is in very small offering. 

 Quartered oak is in larger call than usual, and prices are firmly main- 

 ir.ined. A little easier feeling is noted in the market for cypress. .Maple 

 flooring is in fair call. Whitewood is fairly linn wilh a moderat.' amount 

 of new business reported. 



=-< BALTIMORE >.= 



There is no reason as yet to modify materially the reports about the 

 state of the hardwood business, which remains good, with the demand 

 for most of the standard stocks active and tlie returns very satisfactory. 

 Many of the sellers are still unable to get lumber in sufficient <iuantities 

 to meet the requirements of their customers, and while the range of 

 quotations has not moved any higher, it is at least stationary, no de- 

 cided easing off having taken place. To be sure, there are somi' unsatis- 

 factory spots in the business, chiefly those relating to the exports. Oak 

 planks have gone into the Liverpool market in such quantities thai the 

 arleries of trade are fairly well congested and any further additions 

 avi' likely to cause real unsettlement. Thus far the matter has not gone 

 beyond nianagable proportions, but it appiars clear that the forwardings 

 c-innot be continued at the rate attained during the past few months 

 without actual and real Impairment of strength. It is reported that- 

 some foreign brokers are laying out planks of the desired length for 

 delivery and yarding the short lengths, whieli is considered by experi- 

 enced exporters as a practice productive of losses. The foreign requi'T'- 

 ments of poplar and other woods are also of fair proportions anil the 

 returns are reported to be fairly satisfactory, though .some of the lower 

 grades are hardly as strong as they have been. 



The don^estic business in practically all woods appears to hold up very 

 well. Here and there some less favorable information crops out. but the 

 preponderance of sentinunt in the trade is that the movement has not 

 been appreciably impaired, while prices are about as high as they have 

 ever been. Whatever changes may have taken place are to be looked for 

 in a slightly more liberal offering or perhaps in a demand just a shade 

 less active, if such a lessening has actually taken iWace. In the opinion 

 of many hardwood men the siluation is exactly tin- same as it has been, 

 with the mills still able to dispose of their output as fast as it is made 

 ready for the market. 



Chestnut of all kinds is in excellent request, with prices al tractive 

 and with the manufacturers out of stocks. The lower grades of poplar 

 are perhaps not so strong but basswood Is bringing the highest prices 

 realized, and the sellers are getting .$2 or more over the figures of last 

 year. Gum is also in fair shape, with only cypress draggy. This laller 

 wood seems to have lost in thc> favor of the builders, and the demand is 

 decidedly less active than ii was during the winli'r, while the quotations 

 heve eased off. 



