20 



THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



Is practically no demand for Xo. 3 com- 

 mon. 



There has been practicall.v no change 

 in the demand for poplar. There is al- 

 ways considerable call for this wood, but 

 high prices have to some extent cut off 

 some of these inquiries. There is very lit- 

 tle dry poplar in the upper grades' on the ■ 

 market to-day and consequently good 

 prices can be realized. First and seconds 

 and common poplar in lumber thinner than 

 inch is being sought after. Several large 

 blocks of this stock have been sold re- 

 cently. Clear sap poplar is a little slow 

 and No. 3 common is no better. The de- 

 mand for No. 2 common, also, could be 

 fetter. 



A slight improvement has been noticed 

 in the demand for ash lumber. Thisi wood 

 has not enjoyed its usual demand this 

 year, and as a result prices are not as firm 

 as formerly. Common ash seems to be 

 having the best call. 



Among the other hardwoods it seems 

 that chestnut is the most favored. The 

 demand for thisi wood is mostly for firsts 

 and seconds, common and sound wormy 

 stock. Mill culls are a drug on the mar- 

 ket. 



This was never a particularly strong 

 market for ash, and the call just now is 

 little more than fair. 



Chestnut is in good demand and prices 

 are steady. 



It was expected that the cessation of 

 hostUities in South Africa would result 

 in greatly increased hardwood orders, but 

 such was not the case. Tliere has been 

 some little call for poplar and oak, but 

 the ordery were of retail yard dimensions, 

 and were invariably for special sizes. 



However, careful observers in the trade 

 predict an excellent demand, both domestic! 

 and export, in the fall, and point to the 

 fact that the retail yards and the various 

 factories in the East must be almost bare 

 of stock by this time, owing to the per- 

 sistency with which they have refrained 

 from ordering for some time. 



NEW YORK. 



To test the wtakuess or strength of cer- 

 tain grades and classes of lumber they 

 must occasionally be run up against a 

 period of duluess. This test has been 

 accorded hardwoods in the metropolitan 

 market, and it is' only fair to say that they 

 have, on the whole, acquitted themselves 

 well. 



The usual quietude of summer has been 

 experienced, and yet, in the main, there 

 has been no break in the figures for which 

 the better grades change hands. This may 

 be largely due to the fact that the mill- 

 men have not been overburdened with 

 stocks and that they have had the good 

 sense not to try and hasten sales by forc- 

 ing the market. 



One pleasant feature of the hardwood 

 conditions is the recent advances' in oak 

 flooring. The news that John B. Ransom 

 & Co. of Nashville had sent up their quar- 

 ter-sawed oak flooring if.j and their plain 

 oak flooring $2.50, was received with much 

 satisfaction here, especially as it is be- 

 lieved other manufacturers will follow. 



SXaple flooring, however, is said to be 

 not quite as firm as its neighbor, and 

 there are stories' of slight shading from 

 the list. 



Quartered cak can be denominated fairly 

 firm at the present w-riting. There is a 

 very fair demand for domestic, though the 

 export call has slackened a little. In 

 plain oak what call there is is for dry 

 stock and on this prices do not w-eaken. 

 An improvement, however, is looked for. 

 As for poplar, it still remains' the strong- 

 est feature of the entire market. It is 

 still a strong seller and prices are being 

 held remarkably firm, considering the sea- 

 son. 



EVANSVILLE. 



The condition of the hardwood market 

 here is in every way satisfactory with one 

 possible exception, and that is that the 

 mills cannot get good logs as quickly as 

 they need them. Prices on every article 

 in the list are firm, with an inclination on 

 the part of every mill to spring prices a 

 little whenever a buyer appears. There 

 is a firm belief that good oak is better 

 property to hold than government bonds 

 or cash in bank. 



Quartered and plain oak, poplar and wal- 

 nut of all grades are scarce, and much oak 

 is being put up on orders for shipment 

 when 30 days old. Flitches and thin quar- 

 tered stock are in strong demand, and ex- 

 port orders are numerous. Every indica- 

 tion points to a greater fall trade than 

 ever before, with firm, if not higher, prices. 



ST. LOUIS. 



Inquiry among the local wholesalers of 

 hardnoods' brings out the information that 

 there is' considerably more trading being 

 done than during the middle of July. 

 Conditions which prevailed at that time, 

 notably the reluctance of the furniture 

 manufacturers to place orders during the 

 continuance of the two furniture exposi- 

 tions, have been pretty well overcome and 

 the consequent improvement in business is 

 regarded as the opening of the fall ti-ade, 

 although it is yet very early in the sea- 

 son. Dealers state that they have never 

 enjoyed such a heavy or satisifactory busi- 

 ness during July as that they have just 

 experienced. There have been conditions 

 prevailing during the month which were 

 not entirely satisfactory, chief among 

 which has been tlje ditficulty of securing 

 desirable lumber at first hands, but, on 

 the whole, the results of the month are 

 much better than St. Louis is aeeus'tomed 

 to and all are apt to say something similar 

 to that of one dealer wlio says, "If things 

 were any better I couldn't stand it." 



As is stated in the foregoing, the diffi- 

 culty being experienced in securing desir- 

 able lumber at the mills is one of the main 



troubles of the present situation. All of 

 the dealers report that they are unable to 

 s'ecure as much lumber as they would de- 

 sire, and that it is their belief that the 

 production is not as heavy as it was at 

 this time last year. Whether this is true 

 or not, it is evident from the amount of 

 lumber coming into this market that St. 

 Louis buyers, no matter how energetic 

 they may be, are unable to secure as much 

 lumber as last year and they are forced 

 to pay much higher prices for it. There 

 is eons'ideratole local comment over the fact 

 that prices at the mills have advanced 

 more rapidly than those in the more 

 northern markets, until it is now a condi- 

 tion in this market that mill prices are 

 entirely out of line with those being paid 

 for lumber in St. Louis. As the mills are 

 obtaining these prices with no effort what- 

 ever and as St. Louis buyers are paying 

 them, it would seem that an advance in 

 the local prices in the near future is not 

 out of reas'on. Jlany predict this and base 

 their calculations upon the condition of 

 local stocks and the fact that they are 

 growing no better. So far as the leading 

 hardwood items are concerned, the St. 

 Louis yards were long ago depleted of dry 

 stock and they are now filling their orders 

 with shipping dry lumber. This is occar 

 sioning more or less complaint, but the 

 otlier markets seem to be in the same fix 

 and it is certain that the St. Louis people 

 are unable to do otherwisie. Considerable 

 green stock is being placed on sticks in 

 the St. Louis yards, but very little of this 

 will be in shipping condition much before 

 winter, so that the immediate situation 

 Is not in the least relieved. The traveling 

 salesmen are being kept on the road and 

 are showing excellent results, but, as has 

 been intimated, the greatest energy is? be- 

 ing expended at tlie buying end of the 

 line. 



Poplar and cypress are two of the lead- 

 ing woods at this time and both are enjoy- 

 ing a demand which is very unusual for 

 this season of the year and are in poor 

 supply in local yards. Thirty-eight dollars 

 and upward is the poplar quotation, based 

 on inch stock, and, while the receipts have 

 been slightly heavier during the past w'eek 

 or so, much more sitock could be used. 

 Cottonwood could really be placed in this 

 same class, for the peculiar conditions now 

 prevailing in this market make it almost 

 impossible to buy it. Considerable of it 

 has been coming in, but it seems' to be all 

 in the hands of one man and goes to one 

 consumer, so that the many other users' 

 are unable to buy anything like as much 

 as they need. At the mills this same con- 

 dition prevails with reference to cotton- 

 wood—that it is pretty much all in the 

 hands of a few operators and the many 

 smaller dealers who formerly handled it 

 are left out of the deal. While gum does 

 not yet show much inclination to improve, 

 the "present and prospective condition of 

 Cottonwood cannot but have its effect and 

 that effect is morally certain to be bene- 

 ficial to the gum interes'ts. 



