March 10, 1919 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



43 



orders for hardwood lumber, in the hope o£ being able to buy at lower 

 prices, enough i>usiness has been placed to bring about, in conjunction with 

 the heavy decrease in production since January 1, a startling reduction in 

 mill stocks. This reduction since .Tanuai-y 1 ha.s been the greatest for a 

 similar period in the history of the southern hardwood lumber industry 

 and, unfortunately, there is such a shortage of logs and such an unfavor- 

 able outlook for production, that there is every indication that this 

 tendency toward reduction will not only continue for a time but that it will 

 become even more marked, particularly since business is increasing while 

 production is not. 



All items are affected by the reduction. This is notably true of the 

 lower grades of all southern hardwoods, of the higher grades of plain 

 and quartered red and sap gum and of all grades of quartered red and white 

 oak. I'ractically everything is getting scarcer and the buyer who is over- 

 looking this condition is overlooking perhap.s the most salient feature of 

 the entire hanlwood situation. Consumers and distriljuters are now face 

 to face with a fact and not with a theory, and holders, who are so con- 

 versant with conditions, are showing a disposition to increase their prices, 

 which is perfectly logical in view of the known tacts. 



The same authority said regarding prices : 



Buyers are overlooking the fact that the labor element in the cost of 

 lumber has increased 100 per cent since the war began, and that the 

 advance in the price of lumber, as a commodity, has been only flfty-two per 

 cent. This puts prices on lumber at rock bottom, and it 'is confldeutlv 

 believed that there will be an advance in the near future on practically 

 every item on the list, especially as there is every indication that buyers 

 are going to have to operate on an increasing scale in a market which 

 offers comparatively limited selections. 



All manufac-turers agree that conditions surrounding production are the 

 worst they have ever exeprienced, especially with reference to log supplies. 

 Lack of logs is the very root of the situation and until it is relieved there 

 is little chance for any increase in output. 



BUFFALO 



The hardwood demand has been only fair lately, though at most yards 

 there is an improvement in Inquiry over the preceding month. Many of 

 the buyers have been waiting because they expected a decline in the price 

 of materials, but so far as lumber is concerned this does not appejir to 

 materialize. It looks as if the market would hold strong, since better 

 times are undoubtedly on the way in manufacturing and general business 

 lines, while the cost of producing lumber will remain abnormally high. 



Quartered oak is showing some improvement in demand. Stocks of this 

 wood are not extensive anywhere, though this market has a pretty gooil 

 assortment. Ash is in better sale and chestnut is moving a little better. 

 Some yards report most of the hardwoods in a little better demand than 

 a short time ago. 



PITTSBURGH 



Hardwoods are still having the best of it in the market. The gniiliml 

 increase in the demand for automobile lumber ha.s helped to pull the hard- 

 wood men out of a hole. The orilers placed by industrial concerns and 

 the small manufacturers from this district are largely in hardwood. Rail- 

 roads are announcing a program of improvements which will include a 

 large amount of bridge and trestle building and make an opening for a 

 big lot of oak. This wood has been by far the best seller in the market 

 the past year. Prices are still high. Hardwood mills throughout tri-state 

 territory are running well, but are not rushing production and most of 

 them are stacking some lumber. The building movement is not developing 

 in the way it was hoped and retail trade waits on tliis advance. 



BALTIMORE 



Most of the hardwood men incline to the view that a better tone has 

 developed in the trade here, with the buyers showing increased interest 

 and with stocks moving in larger quantities. Of course, it is also to be 

 said that the orders coming in are generally for immediate needs, and 

 that to meet these the buyers are disposed to meet the figures asked by 

 the sellers ; but that there is a marked reluctance to take up stocks ahead 

 of the requirements, and that users of hardwoods are not to he interested 

 in such transactions unless the quotations are made especially attractive, 

 which the sellers are not inclined to do, seeing that the cost of manufac- 

 ture has so far shown no great decline. The labor question has been by 

 no means solved, and workers are not at all easy to get. The men willing 

 to go into the logging camps and the saw mills ask about as much as they 

 did at any stage of the war; so that the principal item in the expense of 

 turning out lumber remains much the same. This also precludes the idea 

 of a marking down of the quotations, with indications that values will 

 remain high for an indeflnite period. Naturally some recessions here and 

 there will occur, but hardwood men as a whole are trying to maintain 

 lists, and in this they are meeting with a very fair measure of success. 

 All of the woods are in moderately active request, with further business 

 in sight, the chief drawback being the lack of permanency in the trade, 

 which is on the from-hand-to-mouth basis. One of the most encouraging 

 near-developments in the hardwood business is the removal of the war 

 restrictions in the United Kingdom, it being possible now to make ship- 

 ments to England, provided tonnage is obtainable. Even the scarcity of 

 bottoms may be expected before long to be succeeded by more adequate 

 facilities, and there is every reason to believe that at no remote time in 

 the future the export movement will again attain very acceptable propor- 

 tions after a suspension for years. The outlook has not been so bright 

 for an extensive resumption of the foreign business In a long time as it is 

 now, and preparations are being generally made to get a share of this 

 trade. As for the domestic requirements, they are on the increase, the 



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I Plain & Qtd. Red & White i 



I OAK I 



AND OTHER 

 HARDWOODS 



i Even Color 



Soft Texture | 



MADE (MR) RIGHT 



OAK FLOORING 



We have 35,000,000 feet dry stock— all of 

 our own manufacture, from our own tim- 

 ber grown in Eastern Kentucky. 



E PROMPT SHIPMENTS = 



I The MOWBRAY i 

 I & ROBINSON CO. i 



= (INORPORATBO) = 



I CINCINNATI, OHIO % 



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5/8 LUMBER 



When you want 5 8 lumber remem- 

 ber that we speciaHze in this thick- 

 ness in all kinds of woods. This is 

 all sawed from the log — not resawed 

 — and shows good widths and 

 lengths. We offer the following for 

 prompt shipment: 



80,000 5 8 Is «& 2s Plain White Oak 

 40,000 5 8 Selects Plain White Oak 

 50,000 5 8 No. 1 Com. Plain Wh. Oak 

 40,000 5 8 No. 2 Com. Plain Wh. Oak 

 90,000 5 8 Com. & Btr. Sap Gum 

 15,000 5 8 Com. & Better Red Gum 

 20,000 5 8 Is & 2s Poplar 

 90,000 5 8 No. 1 Common Poplar 

 90,000 5 8 No. 2 Common Poplar 



Write for Our Complete 

 List and Prices 



NORTH VERNON LUMBER CO. 



NORTH VERNON. IND. 



