THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



13 



ing the expense of sending a man to take 

 up the lumber, but doesn't find inspectors 

 where it needs them. The best Mr. Wall 

 can do is to tell them to have patience 

 until he can get around. 



One of the largest manufacturers of the 

 South is putting it on all his stationery 

 that he furnishes a bonded certificate witli 

 every shipment, but he has shipments 

 enough tO' keep a national inspector busy 

 every day the year around, and on occa- 

 sions two or three of them. We believe he 

 will find this profitable and that other 

 shippers throughout the South will fall in 

 line. Throughout Michigan that plan is 

 used to a large extent, some of the larg- 

 est concerns having "national inspection 

 and bonded certificate" printed in their 

 contract forms. 



There are many in the trade who are lo- 

 cated where, for one reason or another, 

 the Inspection Bureau has not made much 

 progress, and they do not understand nor 

 appreciate the progress being made. With- 

 out money to operate with, it is not possi- 

 ble to cover the whole territory at once, 

 but the bureau is progressing surely and 

 satisfactorily. 



It is better that it has been organized 

 as it has and has had to make its own 

 way. Its success under such circum- 

 stances is evidence that it is working on 

 correct principles. The mistakes it has 

 made, and it has made some, are made in 

 a small way; wisdom, is coming with ex- 

 perience, and, taken all around, the In- 

 spection Bureau is growing as rapidly as 

 it can grow and keep strong and healthy. 



General Hardwood Conditions. 



DOES ADVERTISING PAY? 



Mr. F. H. Cass, lumber agent of the 

 C. & E. I. Ry., wrote us a letter several 

 weeks ago, in which he made a joking 

 allusion to Hopkins shipping dogwood. 

 We published the letter and a few days 

 afterward Mr. Cass got the following let- 

 ter. We republish it as a sample of the 

 quick returns all our advertisers get, and 

 also to heliJ our readers who have any dog- 

 wood or persimmon to find a market We 

 hope also to assist Friend Whitehead to 

 put a crimp in the trust. Following is the 

 letter: 

 Mr. F. H. Cass, Chicago, 111. 



Dear Sir: — I saw a brief note in the 

 Chicago Hai'dwood Record which has led 

 me to address you. It is with reference 

 to "dogwood," which you will have read. 

 A new company of considerable capital 

 having been formed for the manufacture 

 of shuttles, I have been directed to look 

 up a supply of shuttle blocks, both per- 

 simmon and dogwood. The usual source of 

 supply in North Carolina being at present 

 controlled by the shuttle trust, can you 

 inform us where we can get the blocks, al- 

 ready seasoned and cut? As yet I do not 

 know the specific sizes, but expect to in 

 a short time. The blocks. I understand, 

 have to be cut, dried and the ends dipped 

 in hot rosin to prevent checking. Can you 

 direct me to someone conversant with the 

 business or to someone who has the sup- 

 ply of seasoned persimmon or dogwood on 

 hand? Thanking you in advance, I remain 

 Yours very truly. 

 JOHN B. WHITEHEAD. 



10 Round St., New Bedford. Mass. 



A SELLER'S MARKET. 



The hardwood lumber situation is sti-ong. 

 In fact, we fear that it is getting too sti'ong, 

 or, in other words, that we are getting in 

 a condition that may lead to such an 

 overproduction as followed the boom times 

 of 1S90. In almost every line prices have 

 reached as high level as they did in 1899 

 and it seems that the end is not yet. The 

 demand continues very large, stocks of 

 lumber very light and the prospects for 

 a large production in the near future are 

 not bright. It would be a good thing if 

 .some organization might be effected in the 

 hardwood ti'ade whereby this frequent 

 shifting from a period of scarcity to a 

 period of overproduction might be avoided. 

 In the oak market the situation has 

 grown much sti'onger since the first of the 

 jear and prices have advanced anywhere 

 from !fl to .$.j a thousand. This condition 

 is largely due to the fact that during the 

 dullness of last summer the manufacturers 

 of the South made but little attempt to 

 provide a supply of logs to run them 

 through the wet season. 



Last summer and fall the conditions 

 throughout the oak producing section of 

 the Soutli were vei-y unfavorable to the 

 producers. Their lumber was selling at 

 prices which left little or no margin of 

 profit, and as that condition had existed 

 for some time, they made little or no effoa-t 

 toward getting in their usual supply of 

 logs. The result is that their dry lumber 

 is now exhausted, their log yards empty, 

 many of their mills shut down, and little 

 prospect for active operations until the 

 ground dries out next summer. Then it 

 will take 90 days at least for the lumber 

 to get in shipping condition, and until that 

 time we can expect a very sti'ong market 

 for oak. We hope prices will go no higher, 

 but fear they may. It is now shown that 

 the wise thing for the oak producers to 

 have done would have been to use every 

 effort to put in logs last fall. It is to be 

 hoped that they will not become excited 

 over the conditioos at present and go to 

 the other extreme, bidding up the prices of 

 logs to make lumber which will go a-beg- 

 ging. 



Of poplar there is not much to be said. 

 The supply, present and prospective, is 

 much below the normal, and not nearly 

 equal to the demand. What the result will 

 be is hard tO' say. That the present high 

 prices will be advanced is beyond question, 

 but as to how far the advance will go we 

 do not presume to say. Cottonwood is in 

 fair supply, but the prices are very sti-ong 

 and advancing. Basswood is practically 

 out of the market, the supply being ex- 

 hausted. 



The sitviation in Michigan is growing 

 stronger every day. The best information 

 obtainable, from both dealers and produc- 

 ers, indicates that the season's supply will 

 be much short of last year's cut. The 

 sudden disappearance of snow in February 



cut logging operations down materially and 

 that there will be a shortage is conceded 

 by nearly everybody. Estimates as to 

 what that shortage will be vary con- 

 siderably. There ^^ill probably be enough 

 stock to go around, but there will be no 

 Viurdensonie sui-plus. The excellent letter 

 published herewith, from the Kelley 

 Shingle Company, dealers, of Traverse 

 City, Mich., constitutes, we believe, a vei-y 

 fair statement of the situation. 



We wish to call the attention of our 

 readers to the letters published herewith. 

 They are from representative lumbermen, 

 covering the different sections and branches 

 of the trade pretty thoroughly; they are 

 from conseiwative and well-posted fii-ms 

 and should enable the average lumberman 

 to get a pretty good line on the situation. 

 Mr. Yeager of Buffalo sounds a warning 

 which we hope our readers will profit by. 

 That is that overprwluction as the result 

 of present high prices should be avoided. 

 The market at present needs no boosting. 

 It has gone beyond the power of a news- 

 I)aper report to aid or hinder. Tlie Record 

 expected this condition and told its readers 

 it was coming, and did everything it could 

 to have them prepare for it, and hasten its 

 coming. Now, however, we feel it our duty 

 to put on the brakes and from this time 

 forward we will advise them to guard 

 against overprod^iction in the near future. 

 There is no reason why the price of hard- 

 wood lumber should not be maintained at 

 something like the present figure. The 

 stumpage is getting less every year and 

 liardwood lumber is worth the price it is 

 bringing. 



Following are the letters which we com- 

 mend to your careful consideration: 



Memphis, Tenn., April 9, 1902. 

 Repl.ying to your favor of the 7th, will 

 state that we have been agreeably sur- 

 prised at the volume of trade in our busi- 

 ness since the first of the year. As usual, 

 when orders are plentiful, stocks are very 

 low. We have a large number of unfilled 

 orders on our books, and we are going to 

 experience considerable diflieulty in filling 

 them, unless we are favored with a nice 

 spell of weather so we can replenish our 

 stock. We have bad a very severe winter, 

 which has prevented us from filling orders 

 promptly. 



The first three months of this year beat 

 former records, and we hope to be able to 

 continue the good work for the balance of 

 the year. Yours ti'ulv, 



i. M. DARNET.E & SON COMPANY. 

 * * * 



Traverse City. Mich., April 12, 1902. 

 Replying to yours of the 7th. In re- 

 gard to the condition of the trade at the 

 present time, there is only one complaint 

 that we have to offer, that is our inability 

 to secure the stock to take care of our 

 orders. We started in the first of the year 

 wiOi something over 20,000,000 feet of diy 

 lumber and our stock of dry lumber is 

 practically all exhausted and we are unable 

 to .secure a sufficient amount of stock to fill 

 our orders, and we believe that this condi- 

 tion is general with all the wholesale deal- 

 ers in this territory. There is practically 

 no dry lumber at the mills and the cuts 

 are all contracted and every indication is 



