5° 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



with tlie result that lower prices have been 

 named. 



The call lor quartered oak is only moderate. 

 Prices in some instances have been quotable 

 from .$1 to $4 a thousand below the high level 

 of the .year. Plain oal; has ruled rather quiet. 

 Buyers have been expecting further recessions 

 in price. Maple flooring has attracted a lair 

 volume of new business and the call lor birch 

 is of lair volume. North Carolina pine and 

 cypress have been selling in a moderate way. 



Plain oak is probably the strongest among 

 the hardwoods, although quartered oak is in 

 good demand. Common grades of poplar are 

 meeting with favor, though the higher grades 

 ot poplar used in auto body making have not 

 fully recuperated from their recent slump. Ma- 

 hogany, English oak and Circassian walnut ai-e 

 all beinir called for lor fine interior trim. 



BALTIMORE 



The hardwood lumber trade conditions re- 

 main much as they have been for some time 

 past, although evidences of still further im- 

 provement are manilesting themselves. There 

 appears to be a more active inquiry in certain di- 

 rections and many ol the requests for quotations 

 result in actual transactions. Large consum- 

 ers who have been out ol the market for months 

 are once more showing an interest in stocks and 

 the requirements ol various consumers are ap- 

 parently on the increase. In some divisions of 

 the trade there is a pronounced upward tend- 

 ency, while others are about holding their own. 

 Stocks of good quality are in fair demand, with 

 Ihe offerings none too free and prices well sus- 

 tained. This applies to oak. ash and other 

 woods. Some low-grade stocks are also mov- 

 ing, with acceptable freedom, though prices 

 have not advanced. The most encouraging fea- 

 ture of the situation is the comparative small- 

 ness ol supplies. As a rule the mills have little 

 lumber on hand, their holdings being down con- 

 siderably lowev than at periods when the quo- 

 tations would ordinarily be regarded as insur- 

 ing moderate Ireedom ol selection. It is this 

 leature which lurnishes a basis lor the expec- 

 tation that the quotations are likely to advance 

 to a higher level. When contrasted with the 

 returns during some other periods, the prevail- 

 ing values must be deemed high, but the ad- 

 vance in the price ol stumpage, combined with 

 the higher cost ol production, outs down profits, 

 the manufacturers bc-ing by no means as well 

 off as they have been with the entire trade on 

 a materially lower basis. 



Common poplar is being called for frequently 

 enough to take up the accumulations of earlier 

 months, and the movement is now about large 

 enough to prevent any piling up of lumber. The 

 distribution has been accomplished at about the 

 old figures, but there is a prospect now that 

 values may stiffen. The better grades ol oak are 

 in very lair request, with prices perhaps 

 somewhat stronger and with the outlook promis- 

 ing. Numerous inquiries are being received 

 from abroad, which is suggestive ol a decrease 

 in the holdings there, and various big buyers 

 in the domestic market also manifest a disposi- 

 tion to purchase more freely than they have 

 been doing. The furniture mauulacturers are 

 reported to be very bus.v, and the increased de- 

 mand from this direction goes lar to make up 

 lor the backwardness ol other divisions ol the 

 hardwood business. Common chestnut remains 

 dull and low in price, while the good grades are 

 in a satislactory state. The exporters continue 

 to be on the lookout for desirable lots of lum- 

 ber, and their requirements contribute signally 

 toward keeping quotations at a comparatively 

 advanced mark. 



CLEVELAND 



COLUMBUS 



The hardwood trade in central Ohio has shown 

 some improvement in the past fortnight. Prices 

 have been steady to the extreme and prospects 

 for future trade are fairly good. On the whole 

 the tone of the market is satisfactory to most 

 ol the manufacturers and shippers of hardwood. 



One of the best features ot the market is the 

 better movement of the higher grades. This, 

 coupled with the continued good movement ol 

 the lower grades, causes a larger volume of 

 business in most sections. Stocks in the hands 

 of the retailers are generally small. Stocks in 

 the hands of manufacturers are also fairly small. 

 The principal change in condition is the growing 

 sliortage of cars, especially in West Virginia. 



Prices have increased where changes have 

 been made recently. The increases have been 

 well maintained and there are only a few reports 

 ot cutting in prices. While stocks in some lines 

 are fairly large, no cutting is being done to move 

 them. Collections have also improved to a 

 large degree. 



Quartered oak is In good demand and prices 

 are firm. The volume of business in plain oak 

 is satisfactory. Poplar is in active call and auto- 

 mobile factories are buying more liberally. There 

 is a good demand for all grades of chestnut, 

 which are fairly firm in price. There is a good 

 demand for basswood and prices are firm. The 

 volume of trade is also good. Ash is still weak 

 and little demand has developed. Other hard- 

 woods are unchanged from the previous fort- 

 night. 



is receiving a fair demand lor wheel, spoke 

 and shaft stock. There is a notable scarcity ol 

 hickory boards, especially of good lengths. Red 

 gum is meeting with a fair volume ol attention, 

 with good inquiry lor luture business. The de- 

 mand for red gum for the foreign trade is show- 

 ing good improvement. Walnut remains in good 

 supply, with a little better tone in the ship- 

 ments for the foreign trade. Cherry is in good 

 supply, but the movement only light. Birch, 

 red and white, is meeting with a moderate de- 

 mand from the furniture industry. Cottonwood, 

 basswood. buckeye, and other hardwoods, are 

 sharing in the general light trade ol the mar- 

 ket. Cypress is meeting with a fair demand 

 lor building material, while tank stock is in 

 good inquiry, with a tendency to higher prices 

 lor thick stock, the prices lor which are firm. 



Considerable optimism exists among the hard- 

 wood dealers in this city and vicinity over the 

 prospective business lor the winter season. 

 Trade has been quite active during the past 

 month and prices liave had an inclination to ad- 

 vance. The call Irom manufacturers who use 

 liardwoods has been unusually active, while the 

 building industry demand is firm and promises 

 to continue well into the winter season. 



CINCINNATI 



The general tone of the hardwood market is 

 not satisfactory. While there is some indica- 

 tion of improvement, it has not yet developed 

 enough strength to warrant the assertion that 

 conditions are satisfactory. Some operators in 

 the market claim to be doing a satisfactory 

 volume of business, but their statements are not 

 generally ac<?epted as affecting the general tone 

 of the market. To summarize the market, it 

 might be said that sales are slow and collec- 

 tions slower. 



Oak is the leader in volume, but the demand 

 for selected quartered white oak is noticeable 

 by its infrequency, the general sales of oak be- 

 ing mixed white and red, both in quarter-sawed 

 and plain. Furniture makers' grades are re- 

 ceiving more attention. Heavy car stock and 

 bridge timbers are in fair demand. The pres- 

 ent light demand lor high-grade selected quar- 

 ter-sawed white oak is showing in the increases 

 in the stocks for that grade. Low-grade oak 

 shares better in the market sales than any other 

 wood in the hardwood market. Chestnut is 

 stili slow for the top grades, with some move- 

 ment of medium and low grades. Ones and 

 twos ol long stock are in good supply, but the 

 demand is weak. Sound wormy is meeting with 

 fair selling ol grades suitable for high-grade, 

 buill-up stock, but the prices received are said 

 to be very unsatisfactory. Low-grade sound 

 wormy is plontilul, and when disposed ol the 

 sales are made at price concessions. 



Ash is receiving fairly good attention Irom 

 the wagon-making industry and the carriage 

 makers. Thick white ash, ol two or three 

 years' seasoning, will meet with ready sale : the 

 stock of this grade being very light, and most 

 ol that in sight is not well seasoned. Hickory 



- INDIANAPOLIS 



There has been a slight improvement in the 

 local hardwood market since the election. All 

 grades ol oak are in a little better demand, but 

 prices are unchanged. Shipments are moving 

 promptly, there being little evidence of car 

 shortage. 



The woodworking industries are reporting some 

 improvement in the situation, especially in the 

 furniture and vehicle trades. It is the general 

 impression that there will be a fair hardwood 

 trade throughout the winter. 



EVANSVILLB 



The local hardwood marl<et is fairly good at 

 this time, being a little better than the average 

 for the past year. All the local mills are run- 

 ning on full time, one being operated day and 

 night, and stocks are not on the increase. The 

 lull in the automobile industry has affected the 

 market lor poplar, but none ol the local yards 

 have been caught with a large stock ol this lum- 

 ber on hand. Quartered oak is the one "best 

 seller" in this market. Plain oak has shown 

 some improvement in the past sixty days. Col- 

 lections are a little slow in districts, generally 

 .speaking, while other districts are very prompt. 

 It is to be hoped the market will show im- 

 provement in this respect as well as in demand. 



r 



MEMPHIS 



The demand lor hardwood lumber is on the 

 increase, shipments are on a larger scale than 

 heretolore. and altogether there is a more opti- 

 mistic leeling among members ol the hardwood 

 lumber Iraternity here. Bu.vers are showing 

 more interest than lor some time, but it is the 

 opinion of members of the local trade that there 

 will be a heavier demand for southern hard- 

 woods after consuming and distributing in- 

 terests generally have taken their inventories. It 

 is noteworthy that there is a more general in- 

 quiry for t^e lower grades ol lumber, with bet- 

 ter prices on some items. The export demand 

 is looked upon as good and there is a larger 

 volume of domestic shipments. The shortage of 

 cars is interfering to some extent with the 

 movement of lumber. 



Oak. red gum and cypress are among the 

 more active features ol the list. There Is an 

 increasing business in Cottonwood and sap gnm 

 in the lower grades, and ash is in better re- 

 quest than a short time ago. Stocks are not 

 burdensome in any direction, despite the lact 

 that production is probably a little above the 

 average. 



NASHVILLE 



With, the election out ol the way. lumbermen 

 are figuring on more and better business as a 

 result. In the hardwood market, oak is sell- 



