THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



iuul tills Is causing much misery. Tbere is 

 some lumber also dowu the river waiting 

 tor a tide. 



I'.uilding has iiover been .so active as 

 it is at present and no less than six sky- 

 scrapers are now in course of construction. 



Tlie export trade is still in very good 

 shape, although shipments are not as 

 umnerous as they have been. 



Tlie furniture factories are very busy 

 Mild putting in full time, and the amount 

 of lumber being consumed is enormous. 

 Carriage manufacturers, box manufactur- 

 ers, in fact, manufacturers of all kinds, 

 are running full time and turning out 

 lots of work. 



Tlie trade of the retail yards is not very 

 ydoil and consequentl.v these people are 

 Mot laying in very much stock. 



Our fall festival has come to a close 

 ■•ifter a very successful run of two weeks. 

 It was a success in evei-y sense of the 

 wnrd, financially, industrially and artistic- 

 ally, and brought much business to the 

 l^neen City. 



There has been but a slight change in 

 11.1 k lumber and this was hardly notice- 

 Mi ile. but nevertheless the demand for all 

 kinds of oak lumber is a trifle lighter than 

 than it has been. Prices, however, are 

 tirm and the slump will have no effect 

 on them. Quartered white oak is the fa- 

 vorite, with quartered red and plain-sawed 

 stock close up. 



(Jum lumber is next in importance in 

 numiier of shipments for export. This 

 \\ (lod is meeting with much favor in Euro- 

 jican markets, and more gum has been ex- 

 ported this summer than ever heretofore. 

 First and seconds in all thicknesses have 

 good call. In No. 1 common thicker stock 

 hns the preference. The demand for gum 

 in the local market has let up a little, but 

 this is causing no worr.v. as the other 

 woods are not faring much better. No. 2 

 .■md Xo. 3 common are doing right well. 



Cottonwood has been quiet for about a 

 lucintli. but is again commencing to pick 

 ii]j. Inquiries are coming in more regu- 

 larly and it is only a matter of time before 

 shipments will be veiy heavy again. 

 There is very little surplus stock of Cot- 

 tonwood on the market to-day and never 

 before has so little been offered for sale 

 during the summer months. Firsts and 

 seconds are getting stronger every day. 

 This is particularly true of stock thicker 

 than inch. The box common grade is a 

 little quiet at present. Mill culls are do- 

 ing well. 



The demand for poplar is improving a 

 little, but it is a long ways from good yet. 

 Some inquiries are coming in for thick 

 Iioplar and judging from reports this stock 

 is very scarce. There seems to be more 

 inquiries for firsts and seconds than for 

 the other grades. Sap poplar is very 

 quiet. The demand for cull poplar is not 

 as good as it was. Mill cull poplar is im- 

 proving. 



Chestnut is still in good dem;uul in'the 

 upper grades. There is a heavy demand 

 tor stock in thicknesses of 1 inch. IVj inch 

 and l^A inch. 



NASHVILLE. 



The volume of trade has been very even 

 during the past two weeks. With a good 

 steady demand and a flue show of strength 

 in prices, hardwood lumbermen here have 

 exti-eme confidence in the outlook for busi- 

 ness during the balance of the year. 



Pophir is maintaining its advantage in 

 the way of jirice, and stocks are hard to 

 secure. Plain and quartered oak, both 

 white and red. is at the height of jn-os- 

 perity. 



ST. LOUIS. 



Every dealer in this city reports that the 

 imiH'ovement noticed for several weeks 

 past continues unabated and that the out- 

 look shows conclusively that nothing is to 

 be expected of the future other than in- 

 creased demand and higher prices. Pres- 

 ent values are materially higher than 

 those prevailing a month ago and the 

 tendency is still upward. Buyers are not 

 discriminating to any extent between 

 grades and thicknesses of hardwood, there 

 being a sale for everything on the hard- 

 wood list at prices entirely satisfactory to 

 all parties concerned. For some weeks it 

 has been noticeable that the steady hard- 

 ening of values has had the effect of mak- 

 ing the consumers more anxious to buy. 

 In addition to this they are willingly pay- 

 ing the top market prices, and are at last 

 apparently aware of stock conditions at the 

 mills and in the distributing markets. It 

 is also apparent that quotations from this 

 market to the northern trade are more 

 uniform than at any time thus far this 

 year, there being no object in making a 

 lirice concession in order to secure busi- 

 ness. 



A number of people have visited the 

 southern mills during the past few weeks, 

 and these invariably report that stocks are 

 smaller and mill prices are higher than 

 they have thus far noticed. Buyers are 

 present in unlimited numbers and are ab- 

 sorbing the product right up to the saws. 

 There is considerable trouble being experi- 

 enced just at this time from the prevail- 

 ing scarcity of cars, especially west of 

 the river, many Arkansas and Missouri 

 mills reporting that their shipments are 

 seriously delayed in consequence. The 

 chances are that this car shortage will in- 

 crease and that there will be more or less 

 trouble during all the rest of the year. At 

 least this is the usual experience at this 

 season of the year and very heavy crops 

 are to be moved this fall. 



Conditions here in the city have not 

 changed materially, except that stocks are 

 smaller than at last report and there is 

 less lumber coming in. Practically noth- 

 ing has arrived by river, the Tennessee 

 being too low for navigation and only the 

 lighter draft boats being in operation be- 

 tween St. Louis and Cairo. This more 

 particularly affects cypress, gum and Cot- 

 tonwood, and all three of these woods are 

 needed at the present time. Sales to the 

 local factories are thoroughly healthy, 

 and it is apparent that faetoi-y stocks, both 

 here and in the country, arc much below 

 the normal. 



Cottonwood is particularly hard to se- 

 cure at first hands, and is advancing in 

 price. Southern holdings arc practically 

 all in a few hands, and, as these people 

 have deSnite places for what they have 

 purchased, those who have delayed in put- 

 ting in their stocks are up against a tough 

 proposition. It is believed in this market 

 that the result will be a marked better- 

 ment in gum. as that wood is lower in 

 jirice than it was four months ago. 



In oak there is a healthy demand for all 

 items except quartered red. and the stocks 

 of this are so much smaller than they have 

 been that improvement in it seems iuinii- 

 iieut. Quartered white remains in the 

 iieighborliood of the ifSO mark and this 

 price is not inducing heavy receipts. 

 Inch plain oak is selling at $20 and is con- 

 sidered good iiroperty at this price. Other 

 items of oak, including car stock and other 

 specially sawed material, are in excellent 

 shape. 



Ash ranges in price from .$20 to .^35. 

 according to thickness and ([uality. and 

 the rcceii)ts of it are very light. Hickory 



is also in light receipt and is wanted in 

 much larger quantities than available. 

 Elm, maple, sycamore and the other 

 woods handled in this market are not in 

 wonderful demand and are seldom heard 

 of in present trading. 



PHILADELPHIA. 



The Lumbermen of Philadelphia do not 

 complain of lack of business, but rather 

 of the difficulty of obtaining supplies of 

 some kinds of lumber. This applies par- 

 ticularly to the better grades of white pine. 

 Chestnut and iwplar also are feeling the 

 pinch. 



In quartered and plain oak there is not 

 sufficient stimulant in the export trade to 

 divert much from home demand, and these 

 rule quiet, but with prices well main- 

 tained. 



Long and short leaf yellow pine con- 

 tinue to be leading factors in the market, 

 with no immediate prospect of decline in 

 demand. 



The fact is, we are on the threshold of 

 the active season with the prospect of a 

 very livel.v trade, which may force prices 

 higher. The only disturbing element is the 

 "anthracite coal .strike," which, from Its 

 unexpected continuance, presents a new 

 experience in this country. 



MEMPHIS. 



The cotton crop coming in has detracted, 

 to some extent, from operations here. 

 Empty cars for loading are very hard to 

 obtain, but strenuous efforts on the part 

 of shippers, supplemented by endeavors of 

 the local agents of the different roads here, 

 has relieved the situation somewhat. 



Inquiries are plentiful and from the 

 nature of the Memphis product, gum is 

 being sold in large quantities. Dealers 

 here are also very bullish on oak, bcfth 

 plain and quartered, and are predicting 

 higher prices. Cottonwood is in excellent 

 demand. 



HAWAII WANTS FORESTERS. 



Washington. September .5. 10<>2. 



The Hawaiian Islands are in need of 

 foresters, and eager to secure them. 

 Governor Dole, who sees the immediate 

 necessity of caring for the island forests, 

 has applied to the Bureau of Forestry for 

 expert men, to be sent as soon as they can 

 l>p spared. 



The mountains are oveiTun by both 

 wild and tame cattle, which graze and 

 trample on young trees and destroy the 

 ferns that protect the ground. When this 

 ground cover is removed the soil rapidly 

 loses its moisture and the forest dies. 

 Great areas of Hawaiian forest have been 

 utterly destroyed in this way. 



The disappearance of so much forest on 

 tile island of Hawaii has caused remark- 

 ■■ible changes in the flow of the streams. 

 There ai-e freshets and floods now, fol- 

 lowed by long, dry seasons when the water 

 does not run. Since much of the sugar 

 crop depends entirely on irrigation, and 

 since the irrigating ditches must draw 

 their water from the mountain streams, 

 the damage done the forest affects the 

 prosperity of the whole island. 



Forestry in Hawaii has never been at- 

 tempted by the (Tovernment. and the field 

 \\ill be an entirel.v new one. It will have 

 the support and confidence of the people, 

 who are eager for relief from the harm 

 <lone them by the failure of their irrigat- 

 ing ditches to supply the sugar crops. 



On the island of Molokai— the leper 

 island— still more remarkable conditions 

 lircvail in the forest. There the timber 



