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Copyright. The Hardwood Company, 1922 



Published in the Interest of the Amencan Hardwood Forests, the Products thereof, and Logging, Saw 

 Mill and Woodworking Machinery, on the 10th and 25th of each Month, by 



THE HARDWOOD COMPANY 



Edwin W. Meeker, Vice Pres. and Editor 

 H. F. Ake, Secretary-Treasurer 

 Lloyd P. Robertson, Associate Editor 



Seventh Floor, Ellsworth Building 

 537 South Dearborn St., CHICAGO 

 Telephone: HARRISON 8087 



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Vol. LIII 



CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 10, 1922 



AR> 



No. 10 



.'.'F:U VlW-lk - 



Review and Outlook ^«arden 



General Market Conditions 



THE INCUBUS of accumulative car shortage and rail congestion, 

 due to the continuance of the shopmen's strike, the excessive 

 movement of delayed coal shipments and the general increase in 

 transportation demand, together with the apprehensions of buyers 

 over the strike situation, continue to weigh heavily upon the hard- 

 wood market. The majority of buyers persist in a hand-to-mouth 

 policy of purchasing, being uncertain of what the future may bring. 

 They are constrained to play safe, preferring to place orders for 

 their more immediate needs only and to put off providing for the 

 future until such time as they can forecast this with more confi- 

 dence. The shipment of hardwood lumber from all producing terri- 

 tories is becoming increasingly difficult, and instances of prolonged 

 delay of cars in transit are steadily growing, while mills are finding 

 it more and more difficult to secure cars for the transport of logs 

 from their timber holdings. The North, which for some weeks has 

 enjoyed a relative freedom from these difficulties, is now beginning 

 to share in greater measure the troubles of the Mississippi Delta and 

 Appalachian regions. Eeports are numerous of mills having to 

 close down because of the inabili y to get logs. 



Because of the difficulty of making deliveries and of keeping a 

 steady supply of logs flowing into their banks, mills, especially in 

 the South, are withdrawing from the market. But in spite of all 

 this, the movement of hardwood lumber and veneers has maintained 

 a higher level during the past fifteen days than was averaged during 

 the same period last year. Building activities, due to mounting 

 costs of materials and labor and the interference with deliveries, 

 have decreased, but are still sufficient to make considerable demands 

 on the lumber industry. Ford's announcement that he will close 

 his operations on September 16 has had the effect of depressing buy- 

 ing throughout the automobile industry, and that industry will be 

 in a state of uncertainty for some weeks. 



On the other hand, these depressing influences are being dis- 

 counted to some extent by the relatively good demand from the 

 furniture, flooring and box industries. While furniture buyers are 

 evidencing the caution and apprehension that is general throughout 

 the trade, the situation in this industry is a cheering one. The 

 furniture factories in the main are busy, with orders booked well 

 ahead and the prospect favorable for continuing good business, 

 despite anything short of national economic disaster. The demand 

 for furniture occasioned by the construction of great numbers of 

 residences, hotels and apartments during the spring and summer is 

 becoming manifest and everyone feels that this influence will grow 



stronger throughout the fall, up to the first of the year at least. 

 The makers of furniture are optimistic of the future and, contingent 

 upon the settlement of the shopmen's strike, are confident of a 

 substantial business for the next four months. 



Despite the transpor ation situation in all its manifold effects 

 on the general business of the country, the fundamental indications 

 of a rapidly expanding volume of business this fall remain un- 

 changed. As indicated by the Steel Corporation's voluntary in- 

 crease in the wages of its workmen, wages and prices are in an 

 advancing movement. The tendency to increased wages is going to 

 encourage buying among the ultimate consumers, while rising prices 

 will have the same effect on industrial buyers. Accelerated buying 

 is always a concomitant of rising prices and rising wages. The 

 bumper crops are bound to increase the business of the country, 

 because even if farm crops are marketed at relatively low prices, 

 the farmer is going to have more money to spend. In general the 

 purchasing power of Europe is improving and economists assure us 

 that the recent further collapse of the German mark can not cause 

 an international panic. 



It is the part of reason and commonsense to believe that the 

 shopmen's strike is going to be settled within a few days, and 

 with all our basic industries once more at peace, virtually all re- 

 sistance to expanding business will have been removed. 



All this means a large market for products in the fabrication of 

 which hardwoods are used and means, it goes without saying, 

 increased demand for hardwoods. This in turn means rising prices 

 throughout the fall, because hardwoods are going to be relatively 

 scarce, both northern and southern species. Production in the 

 North has been curtailed throughout the summer by scarcity of 

 labor and the high prices paid for labor by competitive industries. 

 With the rising tendency of wages, this condition will grow, and is 

 growing, more pronounced, so that production in that territory is 

 going to be hampered for some time. The car shortage is also begin- 

 ning to have a retardent effect on production in the North and the 

 same situation in the South is daily growing worse. 



A repetition of the run-away market of 1919 and 1920 might be 

 read into these conditions, and there is some apprehension that this 

 may be the case. But it is hardly probable, because demand is not 

 likely to become as great nor hardwood lumber as scarce as during 

 the former period. The conditions which promise to develop will 

 resemble those of 1919 and 1920, but will nowhere be likely to 

 occur in as extreme form. Commerce and industry will not have 

 had time to recover enough vitality, daring, nor foolhardiness to 



