HARDWOOD RECORD 



27 



taking quite a large amount of stock as well. 

 Dry stocks at mill points are not plentiful and 

 prices are very stiff. Chestnut and maple have 

 been a little slow of late, although there seems 

 to be no disposition to push the market, and 

 prices are ruling steady. There is an increasing 

 call for beech, although heretofore very little of 

 this stock has been used locally. Red gum is 

 also growing more popular and a larger propor- 

 tion of stock is coming on the market at the 

 present time than ever before. 



Taking the local situation as a whole, it was 

 never better. There are no labor troubles in 

 this district and the opportunity for the develop- 

 ment of the lumber business is excellent. Build- 

 ing trades are very active and a large number 

 of the structures started in the early spring are 

 now far enough completed to be in need of in- 

 terior hardwood finish, which is giving a big 

 impetus to the hardwood market. There is 

 further satisfaction among the hardwood trade 

 from the fact that the number of plans filed for 

 new structures is above normal, which gives evi- 

 dence that t*ie consumption of hardwoods in that 

 one direction will give everybody enough orders 

 to keep them busy, to say nothing of the other 

 lines of consumption which give equal promise. 



Philadelphia. 



A still further demand for hardwoods has 

 been the feature of the market during the past 

 fortnight. Good hardwood lumber is easy to 

 sell, yet at this time it is not a question of 

 selling but of obtaining a supply of dry stock 

 to meet the demand. The particular scarcity is 

 of firsts and seconds in almost all thicknesses. 

 Dealers are active in procuring lumber and much 

 competition is reported from mill points. 



Good prices are obtained on all grades of oak, 

 and ash is selling well up to the capacity of 

 the mills. Chestnut is figuring prominently in 

 most orders for hardwoods. Cypress is moving 

 steadily and a good demand has continued 

 throughout the interior of the state all spring. 

 Poplar and spruce are filling up the order 

 books of many salesmen ; the latter especially 

 has been much in evidence this year. Maple 

 flooring has been holding its own under pressure 

 of the large amount of building. Basswood is 

 not as strong as it has been. There is a fair 

 inquiry for beech, and elm is in better demand : 

 the supply is sufficient for all orders. A good 

 demand exists for sound wormy chestnut. 



large, indicating that the stocks throughout this 

 m of the country are by no means ex- 

 hausted, although walnut in considerable quan- 

 tities is now being brought a long distance east- 

 ward. Exporters as a rule are In a comfortable 

 state of mind over present conditions as well as 

 over the outlook. The movement is of large 

 proportions and the returns have improved to a 

 material extent. Foreign consumers realize that 

 the prevailing prices are not the result of arbi- 

 trary action on the part of sellers, but are based 

 upon the law of supply and demand. A number 

 of foreign brokers have been In the United 

 states during the past few months and have 

 satisfied themselves that an active demand ex- 

 ists and that unless they meet the quotations 

 based on the extent of the offerings they must 

 prepare to do without American hardwoods. A 

 general recognition of this fact has encouraged 

 a tendency to meet the exporters, though there 

 are not wanting efforts to get the advantage of 

 shippers in the matter of grading. For this 

 reason the exporters of experience desire coop- 

 eration in order that they may be in a position 

 to compel acceptance of the American grading 

 and inspection. Poplar, also, seems to be 

 stronger, a more active foreign demand serving 

 to relieve the situation at home and enabling 

 the manufacturers to maintain their lists regard- 

 less of the predictions that the present range of 

 values could not be long kept up. 



Baltimore. 

 Xo unfavorable change has developed in the 

 hardwood trade of this section. The various 

 woods continue to be in most active demand and 

 the high prices that have prevailed for some 

 time past continue in force. Plain-sawed oak 

 especially is a brisk seller, alt the mills having 

 enough orders on hand to keep them running 

 for months and not a few of the plants declin- 

 ing to take any more contracts to make delivery. 

 Plauks are in strong request by manufacturers 

 of furniture. As far as can be learned, stocks 

 in some grades are positively scarce, and the 

 calls for supplies are very urgent. Even offers 

 at prevailing prices do not always serve to bring 

 nut lumber in desired quantities for the reason 

 that it is not to be had. Plants are being run 

 at their full capacity, but even then the manu- 

 facturers do not seem to make any considerable 

 progress in catching up with their orders. Much 

 the same condition prevails with respect to the 

 trade in ash, which is nearly as much sought 

 after as oak. It is used extensively for interior 

 finishing and large quantities of it are going 

 into the construction of the new buildings now 

 in process of erection. Chestnut is less in favor, 

 but the movement keeps up with the available 

 stocks, which have greatly diminished during 

 recent years. Walnut is steady at prices ad- 

 justed to the variable quality of the wood. 

 Good stocks always command high prices, and 

 are either taken at home or for shipment abroad. 

 The supplies coming into the market are fairly 



Pittsburg. 

 Any change in hardwood conditions in Pitts- 

 burg that can be noted is for the better. Stock 

 is in a little better supply and the advanced 

 condition of building has produced a stiffer de- 

 mand locally for all grades of hardwood. Or- 

 ders which have been pending for some time 

 are now being placed with local firms at prices 

 that rule strong at prevailing quotations. The 

 mills are getting down to business and turning 

 out considerable more lumber than two weeks 

 ago, another factor which contributes much to 

 the harmony of the situation. The dealers still 

 have the upper hand and are able to name 

 prices as they wish, for there is a diversity of 

 orders coming in which allows them great free- 

 dom of choice. 



Maple flooring is perhaps the best seller in 

 the market. Quotations have not been ad- 

 vanced on list, but No. 1 stock is very easily 

 •puutuap }Be.iS ui si qstuu joudjut joj pasn jaq 

 -ran[ pooAipjt'H 'mnimajd 4qSns u }u Jo pasodsip 

 There are probably more high class houses cost- 

 ing from ifL'0.000 to $100,000 going up in Pitts- 

 burg this summer than for two years previous. 

 Architects are specifying large amounts of ma- 

 hogany, cherry, birch, oak, maple and walnut 

 for hardwood finish and veneer work in both 

 these costly houses and in the best grade 

 of apartment houses. Another factor which 

 contributes much to the trade in hardwoods is 

 the big amount of remodeling and additions on 

 store and oflice buildings. There is hardly a 

 square in the downtown district where from 

 one to a half dozen buildings are not being 

 made over in this way. This calls for big bills 

 of finishing stuff and flooring and taken together 

 with numbers of warehouses, suiue of 

 about ready for flooring, gives a big impetus t" 

 the market. Railroads continue to be steady buy- 

 ers of hardwood. In the Pittsburg district there 

 an' a large number of uew stations, freight 

 houses, round houses and offices being built for 

 the railroads iu addition to the enormous amount 

 of oak which the local railroads are taking for 

 construction work. 



Dimension oak is very strong at prevailing 

 quotations and some dealers look for an early 

 rise. Heavy oak bill stuff Is also selling strong 

 and there is quite a call for sticks ranging from 

 forty to fifty feet in length. No advance in 

 price has been authorized by the Pittsburg 

 Wholesale Lumber Dealers' Association, but a 

 few firms have, owing to purely local conditions, 

 which they control, put up the price of certain 

 d woods on recent orders taken. 



Buffalo. 

 Thei .. local bardv 



lumber trad 



iiard- 



n I in building here than usual. A glance at 



ty building v there Is 



such a light demand lor hardw 1 hi 



are no large buildings going up in Buffalo, but 

 there are numbers of houses building that re- 

 quire nothing better than pine. There I 

 much less need of big blocks than for working- 

 nun's houses that all energies are turned in the 

 latter direction, and the Beason is now so fai 

 advanced that not much revival is looked foe 

 this year. 



There Is about the usual 1] 

 and if It were as large as dealers might Hi 

 Bee it the scant stm-k would be nowhere, for 

 it has not increased any yet and Is not likely 

 to. Quartered oak is selling in some cases rather 

 faster than formerly, the prices not bi 

 ~" far above plaiu as they used to be. Thl 

 the correct proceeding, though there has 

 much protest that oak logs cost so much now 

 that it is neces urtet as much oak as 



possible to get the tost back. 



Birch, elm and ash are doing fairly well and 

 are in light supply. Maple and chestnut are in 

 moderate demand, with basswood a little 

 Southern woods are doing well, with cypress 

 strong, southern pine very scarce and poplar 

 selling much better than last year. There is 

 some complaint of price cutting which makes it 

 evident that this is not a strong season fur 

 hardwoods. 



Detroit. 

 Hardwood trade conditions in Detroit and 

 Southern Michigan remain practically the same 

 as at last report. While hemlock, white pine, 

 yellow pine and other classes of lumber that 

 enter into the construction of the cheaper class 

 of buildings are enjoying a veritable boom, It 

 cannot be said that the hardwoods are doing 

 quite so well. There seems to be plenty of lum- 

 ber to go round and under such conditions ad- 

 vances in price are not looked for. There Is, 

 nevertheless, a good healthy trade and no weak- 

 ness in values Is noted anywhere In the list. 

 'i 'he maple flooring aue to be 



rushed with orders — a result of the building 

 boom — and dry Inch maple Is picked up very 

 closely. Basswood continues quiet, while birch 

 is not wanted as badly as it was a year ago. 

 The small country mills within a radius of 100 

 miles of Detroit seem to have turned out more 

 stuff during the past winter and spring than at 

 any previous corresponding time within six 

 years. This, of com Its effect on the 



movement of standard Holders of good 



stocks of well manufactured lumber realize, how- 

 ever, that this condition is only temporary and 

 feel that there will be greater activity later In 

 the season. 



Saginaw Valley. 

 The hardwood lumber situation In the valley 

 try. The mills are running 

 tnd much green st^ck is finding a mar- 

 ket, as dry lumber is pretty well cleaned up. 

 There Is i lint on the part of manu- 



irers at interior mill points that rough 

 maple and basswood are not bringing as much 

 as they were last year, although the manufac- 

 tured flooring 1. more than 

 The flooring men on the ether hand 



contend that la 



profit; in fact, 

 many of them were apparently In 11 



heir health. Iu the face of this, however, 



wood stock, and the prici 



me rather Inferior basswood culls have 



Ash Is rather Hi 

 [„ ,j little .if it is mauu- 



- section. On the whole pric >3 



