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Copyright, The Hakdwood Compani, 1917 



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

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



' THE HARDWOOD COMPANY 



Edgar H. Defebaugh, President 

 Edwin W. Meeker, Managing Editor 

 Hu Maxwell, Technical Editor' 



Entire Seventh Floor Ellsworth Building 

 537 So. Dearborn Street, CHICAGO 

 Telephones: Harrison 8086-8087-8088 



Vol. XLIII CHICAGO, APRIL 17, 1917 No. 1 



General Market Conditions 



PROGRESS STEADY and with no suggestion of future interruption 

 has marked the lumberman's effort to stabilize his values and 

 to realize prices commensurate with cost of production. A market 

 summai'v at present can point to but one outstanding condition, but 

 one feature which is generally recognized and that is the steady 

 strengthening of values in practically every classification of hard- 

 wood lumber. As a matter of definite fact it is practically impossible 

 to buy many items and the number on the absent list is increasing. 

 While the price feature is, of course, pleasing to the merchandiser, it 

 in itself does not give complete satisfaction as continued difficulty 

 in securing sufficient stock and beyond that in getting it out, results 

 in a situation which is rather a retardant to profits even in the face 

 of the exceptional prices obtained. 



There is no doubt but that a composite opinion of everybody posted 

 on the hardwood situation would show that the entrance of this coun- 

 trj' into the war has had as yet no retardant effect whatever either 

 as to the present or the future, and that in the broad sense it cannot 

 but actually help the hardwood markets. It is undoubtedh- going to 

 be the direct cause of the purchase of immense quantities of lumber 

 which will be diverted from other channels, thus strengthening the 

 situation in the regular lines. The fact that lumber manufacturers have 

 enlisted tlieir efforts and their plants for the service of the federal 

 government, promising to give precedence to all government business, 

 cannot but strengthen their hands in regard to the normal business. 

 And this extraordinary call comes at a time when the lumber manu- 

 facturers are very poorly equipped, from the standpoint of stock and 

 prospects of immediate manufacture, to stand any unusual drain on 

 their product. 



As to direct influences that might have a bearish tendency on the 

 market, even though in themselves they were not powerful enough 

 to cause any definite change, the building situation possibly as a 

 whole is the most definite. With the increasing cost of materials, 

 building prices have gone too high to make this work productive to 

 the speculator and so in many of the large cities speculative building, 

 wliich provides an outlet for so mucli hardwood lumber, is not so 

 brisk as it has been. There is a suggestion that furniture stocks are 

 not moving out so readily as had been anticipated, there being evi- 

 dence of slightly more cautious methods on the part of the furniture 

 retailers. So it is stated in some quarters the furniture trade is 

 holding back on some orders, although these instances are purely 

 local and as a whole the furniture manufacturers are taking in lumber 

 as fast as they are able to get what they want. 



As to the source of supply, the only change of note is the fact that 



many manufacturers are now actually fearful that they will in a 

 short time be totally out of dry stock. But taking the situation all 

 in all, the best possible proof of its strength is the fact that prices 

 have continued to advance rapidly — in some places in big leaps and 

 in others by just steady, regular progress. It is certainly a fact 

 that this improvement could not be so consistent were the conditions 

 of supply and demand not such as justified it all the way through. 



The Cover Picture 



DECAY STEEEED CLEAR OF THE CEDAR LOG shown in the 

 cover picture of this issue. The tree fell in the forests of 

 Washington more than 1380 years ago. It is not known how much 

 longer ago than that it may have been, but there is a record of that 

 many years. The tree cut from one of the stumps standing astride 

 the log had 1380 annual rings, each ring corresponding" to a year 's 

 growth. The log was there before the tree sprouted, for the seed 

 which produced the tree evidently germinated on top of the log and 

 sent roots down both sides into the soil. That is a common method 

 of germination with some trees. The seed need never touch soil, 

 but it receives sufficient moisture from wet moss to sustain life 

 until the roots find their way to the ground. Northern birch has 

 the habit of beginning its existence on top of a moss-covered log 

 in damp and shaded forests, and some pines do it also. 



The log and the stumps astride it in the picture are western red 

 cedar. This species is closely related to the white cedar or arbor- 

 vitae of the northern states, but it attains much larger size. This 

 species furnishes more shingles than any other tree in the world. 

 The western cedar shingles, known in every market in the country, 

 are its product. 



The action in the picture is furnished by the man with the saw, 

 who is cutting bolts for shingles from the prostrate trunk. Though 

 the log has lain on the ground much more than a thousand years, 

 it is still sufficiently sound for shingles. This constitutes one of 

 the longest known records of timber preserved from decay, while 

 exposed to the weather. There are longer records where the wood 

 had been kept dry or submerged in water or buried in ice. 



As the log lies now it is wholly exposed to view. That was not 

 its former condition. In that damp forest a thick mat of moss covers 

 the ground, logs, stumps and rocks. When the timber is cut the moss 

 dies or fire burns it. The absence of moss in the picture is apparently 

 due to fire. The charred condition of the stumps shows that they 

 have passed through a first class conflagration. 



The preservation of the log from decay was in part due to the 

 moss that covered it. The spores of the fungus that induce decay 

 could not penetrate the moss and reach the wood. 



