MwoMRecoM 



Copyright, The Hardwood Company, 1!I15 



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



Mill and Woodworking Machinery, on the 10th and 23th 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 

 337 So. Dearborn Street, CHICAGO 

 Telephones: Harrison 8086-8087-8088 



NEW Y« 



HOT A. ^-11 



Vol. XL 



CHICAGO, JUNE 10, 1015 



No. 4 



^ D:TOaimastiTO iTOTOOT ;gE>S 



);ot»!atw^^twa^t»»5^i^^^!»^li)tBtg^^^ 



Review and Outlook 



General Market Conditions 



A SPOTTY INDICATION of trade is accentuated by reports dur- 

 ing the last couple of weeks, the most noticeable having come 

 from Memphis territory where a tremendous amount of lumber is 

 being loaded out for export. There is also some indication of a 

 slight improvement in shipments for domestic consumption from this 

 point although this feature is not by any means so noticeable as the 

 export shipment. Foreign buyers have been circulating through this 

 country in considerable numbers, taking up stocks and assuming risks 

 after departure from American ports. That is, they assume the cost 

 of unusually high insurance. In this way American exporters are 

 enabled to quote on stocks and it now seems possible to secure suf- 

 ficient bottoms for the movement of lumber. The mills i>rofiting most 

 by this export demand are those in position to furnish large quantities 

 of any one line of lumber. The mills whose outputs are diversified 

 are not attempting shipments abroad to any great extent. The same 

 optimistic reports of exports come from eastern points. 



Business, of course, has been further held up on account of the 

 uncertainty of relations between this country and belligerent nations, 

 but with aU this there is a steady adhering to the tone of confidence 

 although the general policy is distinctly conservative. 



All indications point to a continued depletion of stocks of southern 

 hardwoods, and Hardwood Eecord reiterates that just as soon as 

 there is a real possibility of shipments on a normal basis without 

 restriction there is going to be found a shortage of stocks which will 

 inconvenience a great many people who are anxious to get lumber 

 in a hurry. This is not true so much in the North, although stocks 

 in that part of the country are cut down to a considerable point 

 below normal. In fact, the situation in the North is well in hand and 

 the level of prices is very fair, considering what has transpired during 

 the last few months. 



Nothing of note has occurred to indicate any special change in the 

 policy of the factory trade, which is still buying mainly for quick 

 shipment for early use, although there continue to be reports of sales 

 for advance shipments for use in the future. It is a noticeable fact 

 that in many instances these sales have been placed by those purchas- 

 ing agents who have a reputation for being more closely in touch with 

 the actual lumber situation and who desire to protect themselves as 

 far as possible against higher prices in the future. It is also signifi- 

 cant that the majority of the more substantial manufacturing institu- 

 tions are still adhering to the policy of refusing long-time orders and 

 contracts at present prices. In a way this policy has already begun to 

 make itself felt as there does seem to be a slightly greater uniformity 

 in the going values of hardwoods. 



The veneer situation is not appreciably improved and it will liave to 



wait its turn for more active call. The substantial institutions which 

 know the value of their product and which are in position to guaran- 

 tee quality are getting pretty near what their product is worth. It 

 would seem that the present circumstances will tend to rather elim- 

 inate those concerns who are not conversant enough with the real facta 

 of their goods to know exactly what they should ask and insist upon 

 receiving. This purging will very likely have beneficial effects in the 

 future. 



The railroads have not shown any marked increase in demand for 

 their products, but there is a probability that the jnesent rate of pur- 

 chase will be continued for some time to come. 



T 



The Cover Picture 



HE COVER I'ICTURE illustrating this issue of Hardwood 

 Eecoud shows all that is left of what was probably the largest 

 Cottonwood tree in the world. No record of a larger one has been 

 found. A tree of this species once grew in Mississippi county, Mis- 

 souri, that was said to be ten feet in diameter, but the one whose 

 picture is here shown was considerably larger, according to measure- 

 ments which are well authenticated, and which can be verified, in part, 

 at the present time. In 1902 the Evanston, 111., Historical Society 

 published a record that the tree was forty-five feet in circumference 

 three feet above the ground. An earlier report placed the diameter 

 at eighteen feet, but that must have been very near the ground, where 

 the base was greatly enlarged. 



The tree grew on the farm of M. A. Kloepfer, three miles west of 

 Wilmette, 111. The Evanston Historical Society gave the height at 

 150 feet, and Hurd's History of Evanston at 160. Both figures are 

 probably estimates. The trunk had an unusual form for a cotton- 

 wood, being enlarged at the base like a typical southern cypress. It 

 contained an enormous cavity, with an opening eight and a half feet 

 high. It is said that thirty-one people have been known to stand 

 within the hollow at one time, and a man on horseback could ride 

 through the opening, turn round and ride out. 



The tree was locally known as the "Black Hawk Cottonwood," 

 because of a tradition that the old Indian held councils of war in its 

 hollow trunk. There appears to be no historical evidence that such 

 was the case ; besides, a hollow tree would be about the last place 

 to attract an Indian who was expecting an attack from enemies. He 

 would want a clear view in all directions. 



Some years ago vandals set fire in the tree's cavity, and the 

 monarch of the Illinois prairies was killed. The fire and subsequent 

 decay weakened it and it broke off near the level of the ground and 

 fell. It would probably have disappeared before this time but for 

 the care of Richard F. Gloede. whose love of trees was instilled in 



