HARDWOOD RECORD 



39 



b« reduced for next year by the failure to get 

 money to carry on the work, nnd yet the con- 

 sumption or lumber Is about as hi'avy as ever. 

 In Kuffalo It was never greater than It Is now 

 and it Is going to last Just as long as builders 

 can work. The big financiers arc divided be- 

 tween a scare and an effort to show that they 

 rule the country still, but the consumer has not 

 concluded to shut off yet. 



The former complaint of too much Inch plain 

 oak Is still on. but unless a dealer really needs 

 money he Is not going to cut his prices much on 

 any such plea as that, for the actual oak supply is 

 not big enough to make an overstock and Inside 

 of a year it is likely to come about that the 

 mills have dropped plain oak as much as they 

 can and have made up the scarcity In quartered 

 oak. 



Ttere is not much change in the condition of 

 hardwoods. Some of the dealers say that their 

 orders are fewer than they were, but they can 

 all sell If they go out and work. The consumer 

 wants the lumber, but has taken the notion that 

 it Is going to he cheaper and so holds off as 

 much as he can. 



I'oplar. ash and chestnut are no more plenti- 

 ful than they were and prices are high. Dealers 

 do not like to buy maple, elm or basswood In 

 the West, tor the mill prices are so high that 

 there is small profit to be made and it Is not 

 very safe to put such lumber into a yard, with 

 only a small margin on it now, and let it lie 

 there for carrying charges to eat up the profit. 



Reports from the owners of sawmills in the 

 West and Southwest show a good activity, some 

 of them being put into shape for an Increase 

 of output. All are turning out good stock. 



Bay City and Saginaw. 



The market is firm and steady with a season- 

 able movement, plants in operation and fair 

 stocks In dealers" hands. Prices of hardwood 

 are being held up where they have ruled all 

 season. The demand for oak is good : supplies 

 are not large since all this portion of the state 

 has been skinned of oak, the cutting of which be- 

 gan forty years ago. In the early days there 

 was a lot of oak tributary to the streams that 

 empty in Saginaw Bay, but It is getting scarce 

 now. It Is the same also to a great extent as 

 ash, both white and black, and also basswood. 

 There is considernbie birch in the northern part 

 of the state and a large quantity of elm, maple 

 nnd beech. Maple is being put into lath of late 

 owing to file high cost of lath in the markets. 

 There Is a fairly good demand for all grades of 

 hardwood and the business outlook Is good. 



Columbus. 



While a little improvement lias been shown 

 In the past fortnight, the local hardwood mar- 

 ket remains quiet. Trices are still slightly off. 

 with the exception of poplar, which is becom- 

 ing too scarce to be affected by the general 

 <;uletude which prevails. Other woods, such as 

 oak, ash, hickory, maple, gum. cypress and 

 beech are fairly quiet. The tight money market, 

 which is especially acute in this section, to- 

 gether with poor collections, have been reflect- 

 ed In a shutting down of a number of building 

 operations, curtailing the demand for most 

 grades of hardwoml. Retailers have been buy- 

 ing only as their needs required, feeling that 

 a large stock under present conditions was liable 

 to result in loss. 



This custom of buying Just enough to tide 

 them over has had more effect on the jobbing 

 trade than on the retail market. Reports show 

 that retail trade is picking up gradually, with 

 prices more firm at reduced figures. I'rlcea gen- 

 erally are about $1 off the quotations of the 

 spring. Chestnut Is pretty stiff, while the higher 

 grades of oak are also In demand. It Is freely 

 predicted that If the money market would ease 

 up buying would be better. 



Building and loan associations in this section 

 are loaning large amounts for building purposes. 



which fact Is doing much to relieve the dull- 

 ness of the market. The car shortage is being 

 felt to a certain extent In this section, although 

 it is not yet sufllciently pronounced to cause 

 much trouble. The indications are, however, for 

 increasing shortage as the season advances. 

 Taking It ail In all, the market shows indica- 

 tions of reviving before the extreme cold weather 

 sets in. and ail are looking forward to better 

 conditions in the next few weeks. 



Cincinnati, 



The hardwood situation during the yast two 

 weeks showed additional strength over the two 

 previous weeks, and the month of October was 

 an improvement over the previous month. Or- 

 ders were more plentiful and prices were slight- 

 ly Improved. Poplar Is the strongest Item In 

 the hardwood line. Oak, both quartered and 

 plain white, has experienced a better call, and 

 prices are firm. t'hestnut has picked up re- 

 markably, and dealers are receiving a better call 

 for it. Gum, both red and sap, has fallen off 

 in demand, the cause of .which local lumber 

 dealers are at a loss to know. Other items of 

 iiardwoods are easily holding their own, and a 

 slightly improved demand was noticeable. The 

 car situation still figures in the demand, and 

 during the last two weeks it seems to have 

 grown worse. Dealers are looking for the same 

 trouble they experienced last year and are mak- 

 ing every possible effort to get their shipments 

 away as soon as possible. 



Chattanooga. 



The market in this city aud scctinn i> i;ir 

 from satisfactory : lumber values have fallen 

 (onsiderahly, the demand is growing steadily 

 worse and log prices are very high. The sit- 

 uation is considered of such serious character 

 that the river mills have called in their buyers 

 and are suspending the purchase of log supplies, 

 at least for the present. Some attribute the 

 reduction in price and weakness In demand to 

 the present stringency in the market : all, how- 

 ever, hope for a speedy change for the better. 



The car shorta*xe is being felt here again. 

 Tlie shortage, however, seems to be confined more 

 to the Cincinnati Southern and the Southern 

 systems than to the Nashville. Chattanooga & 

 St. Louis Railway. The export business is also 

 a little dull, althouah the demand for pcqilar 

 and oak is strong and active. 



St. IiOiiis. 



St. I.ouls hardwood conditions are somewhat 

 letter than they were two weeks ago, l>ut the 

 d'mand Is still quiet and prices range Just alwut 

 ■ lif same as they did. Fairly large stocks are 

 held b.v consumers and for that reason buying 

 i? not as good as it shotild be. taking Into con. 

 sideration the increasing car shortage and the 

 ^renerai belief of the dealers and manufacturers 

 that the scarcity of cars in the producing ter- 

 ritory and the approach of had weather will 

 cause a stiffening of prices on items that have 

 weakened lately. 



The small demand is pretty will divided 

 among all hardwood Items. Inch (juartered 

 while oak Is most In demand and that Is fairly 

 urgent. .\s It Is scarce, the holders are getting 

 pretty good prices and In some instances an 

 advance is asked. There is a moderate call for 

 ash, but now that the supply Is Increasing the 

 buying Is not what it was. Poplar Is a fair 

 seller at satisfactory prl<es. The yard trade in 

 Cottonwood, gum and plain oak has no special 

 fc-ature. Plain oak is inclined to be weak. 

 TliiTe is a slight movement In quartered red 

 imk. Cypress Is cpiiet. although dealers antici- 

 pate an increase In the demand liefore long. 

 Inquiries for It are better than they have been. 



Ing. Prices arc holding up well and orders are 

 fairly plentiful. A big supply of common oak 

 is reporti'il on hand, although the general run 

 of stuff Is short in the local yards. (Quartered 

 oak shows some advance In price over the quota- 

 tions of a few days ago. The country mills are 

 all running on full time as well as the Nash- 

 ville mills. The country mills, however, are 

 complaining a j:ood deal on account of lack of 

 facilities for the transporting of their product 

 Local shippers appear unable to supply the de- 

 mand for quartered oak strips. A big lot of 

 local building Is in progress, which of Itself in- 

 sures good times ahead for the local retailers 

 for some time to come. The local box and 

 hardwood flooring plants are ruuuing at full 

 capacity. .\ steady movement is noted In pop- 

 lar, ash and chestnut and all the local lumber- 

 men are looking for more timber. Much red 

 oak is being useil now by Nashville manufac- 

 turers, as it is softer than the white and work: 

 letter for their uses. A sale of thirty cars of 

 rod oak was recently reported and it was stated 

 that fifty would have been bought if obtain- 

 able. 



Memphis. 



Demand for hardwood lumber shows some Im- 

 provement, but it is not as good as the major- 

 ity nf the trade anticipated. Buyers appear to 

 be Indifferent about entering the market, evi- 

 dently anticipating lower prices. Manufactur- 

 ers and wholesalers alike admit that there Is 

 considerable lumber for sale at interior points 

 and that there Is some Increase in yard hold- 

 ings here, but they likewise point out In the 

 same connection that the buyer who delays 

 placing his orders much later will have extreme 

 difficulty in securing delivery of what he pur- 

 chases. This is one of the results expected 

 from the rapidly growing shortage of cars and 

 general congestion of traffic, which is much more 

 pronounced at the smaller Interior milling points 

 than in the larger centers like Memphis. 



Lumber production is going forward at a 

 rather rapid rate, except where curtailed by 

 shortage of labor or inability to get cars for 

 the transp<irtation of logs to the mills, and 

 there is further increase in the amount of lum- 

 ber placed on sticks. 



No great concessions are made by manufac- 

 turers or wholesalers here. They are shading 

 gum in all grades because the offerings of this 

 lumber have shown material increase. Oak Is 

 in only moderate request for the moment, but 

 there Is no disposition to force this on the 

 market in either plain or quarter-sawed because 

 there is no great abundance of it. Cottonwood 

 Is one of the best sellers here. The lower grades 

 are in particularly active request as a result of 

 an unparalleled demand for boxes. There Is not 

 much high-grade cottonwood for sale and prices 

 are well maintained thereon, as well as on box 

 hoards and panel stock. Ash is selling slightly 

 better than a short time ago, while the demand 

 for poplar is quite good, the market showing a 

 very steady nnd healthy tone. There is only a 

 moderate volume of cypress obtainable in this 

 market anil what Is being sold is changing 

 hands at prices which the trade regards as sat- 

 isfactory. 



Nashville. 



There is nothing particularly noteworthy In 

 regard to the local lnml>er market at this writ- 



New Orleans. 

 New Orleans market conditions have changed 

 very little In the last fortnight, excepting that 

 they have been affected somewhat unfavorably 

 by the river front tie-up. The export business 

 through New Orleans Is In bad shape and there 

 are no Indications of an early Improvement. It 

 la stated thai the Interior demand for hard- 

 woo<Is Is still steady, but the manufacturers are 

 finding It hard to supply this because of the car 

 shortage, which Is dally becoming more acute. 

 All in all the market, both export and domestic, 

 is In rather unsatisfactory shape, but lumber- 

 men are optimistic and hope for ii speedy 

 change. 



