HARDWOOD RECORD 



29 



ply at the following prices: Inch ones 

 and twos, $100; 5-4 and 6-4. $120; 8-4, 

 $125; 10-4 and 12-4. $130: and 16-4. $135. 

 Cherry common and culls are ruling at fol- 

 lowing prices respectively 4-4, $50 and $25; 

 5-4 and 6-4. $60 and $27; 8-4, $65 and $28; 

 10-4 and 12-4. $70 and $30; 16-4, $75 and $30. 

 Thick maple is in a peculiar position with 

 respect to prices as made In several recent 

 and separate sales, some dealers selling at 

 $38 to $39 and others for the same class of 

 lumber obtaining $42 to $43. There is not 

 much of this stock to be. sold by making un- 

 duly low prices and if prices were made 

 uniform at $42 to $43 as much stock would 

 be sold, while the returns would be more in 

 keeping with the cost of getting this 

 -eatsUy-depreciated-by-handling-and-exposure- 

 lumber to the consumer. This hyphenated 

 adjective is "from the German" but it ap- 

 plies to this market very aptly. 



New York. 



The local hardwood market has shown re- 

 newed activity during the past fortnight. 

 and the outlook for a large business for the 

 balance of the year is considered good by 

 both wholesale and retail trade. The build- 

 ing department of the Greater City threw a 

 boom shell, as it were, into lumber ranks last 

 week when it announced that from January 1 

 to June 22, there had been 10,049 plans filed, 

 calling for an expenditure of $117,933,804. 

 With the issuance of these figures came an 

 appeal from the building department to the 

 mayor for a sufficient appropriation to double 

 its force, since the department is simply 

 swamped with business which continues to 

 pour in with no likelihood of a let-up, all of 

 which presages nothing short of a pronounced 

 activity for the balance of the year. Promi- 

 nent authorities on the subject express the 

 opinion that next year will show even greater 

 activity in building than 1905, which seems to 

 be sufficient assurance that the prosperity en- 

 joyed by the lumber trade of this market this 

 year will not cease with December 31. 



Business is exceptionally good in all 

 branches of the trade. There are no weak 

 spots to be noted and prices continue firm, 

 with an upward tendency in many cases. In 

 connection with the various woods, plain oak 

 and birch are still the leaders in demand, 

 with poplar steadily strengthening. Ash is 

 in a fair call and there seems to be no surplus 

 stocks. There is enough quartered oak for 

 current wants, but the market is firm. Bass- 

 wood and maple are a little slow, but with 

 the opening of the fall trade, in which piano 

 and other manufacturers will get busy for 

 Christmas, it is believed that a revival in de- 

 mand will be noted. Chestnut is strong and 

 firm in price. 



Philadelphia. 



The reasons for the present strong demand 

 for lumber here are almost as various as the 

 individual dealers who voice them, but what- 

 ever they may be in reality the fact remains 

 that this is by far the best season any of the 

 trade in this section have ever experienced. It 

 is in many cases really a fight to get stock to 

 (ill immediate requirements, though there are 

 of course exceptions to this on several lines. 



With the Pennsylvania, Reading and Lehigh 

 Valley railroads using more lumber than ever 

 before, and with mill work plants behind on 

 orders. It may be assumed that the boom here 

 at least is due to money in hand to enter upon 

 operations on a large scale and to make long 

 needed improvements in existing buildings. This 

 is found to be the condition not only In the 

 city proper but throughout the surrounding coun- 

 try. 



With prices holding firm on some lines 

 of hardwood and stiffening on others at 



rhis time of the year, the wise man who wants 

 any stock of dry lumber to open next season 

 «iil' «il! buy as soon as he can get his order 

 accepted, or he is pretty sure to be In bad 

 shape next spring. 



Quite a few inquiries are reported for hard- 

 woods for export, but manufacturers and deal- 

 ers refuse to take them except for delivery 

 here. 



Chestnut is in good demand and shows a ten- 

 dency to advance slightly on continuance of 

 good inquiry. Ash is another line on which 

 both Inquiry and demand are above par for this 

 season, and it is stronger by $2 than it was 

 thirty days ago; 4-4 is quoted at $44 to $46 

 and 5-4 to 8-4 at $49 to $51. After the jump 

 in oak last spring many dealers looked for a 

 dropping off In price, but none is observable and 

 white oak is fetching $46 to $48 ; common, $36 

 to $38. Red oak is running strong at $1 less 

 than these figures. Birch shows some Improve- 

 ment and log run is about $24 to $26. Cypress 

 is strong and steady at $42 to $45 ; common, 

 $28 to $30. There is more cypress used out- 

 side this city than in, and some good orders 

 have come lately from Allentown and Reading. 

 Poplar shows some signs of improved demand 

 and prices may lift a little if it keeps up. 



Baltimore. 



Summer has failed to develop any unfavor- 

 able features in the lumber trade of this 

 section. Contrary to the usual experience, 

 the summer season has been characterized 

 by exceptional activity, and the usual quiet of 

 August has not appeared. Some firms here 

 state that business for last month was larger 

 than for any two corresponding months since 

 they embarked in the trade. 



The demand for oak is especially brisk, the 

 mills being unable to keep up with the inquiry 

 for good dry stocks. The common grades are 

 fairly plentiful, but the better grades are hard 

 to get. At present quotations are high and 

 firm, and manufacturers are able to dispose 

 of stocks as fast as they can be turned out. 

 Many plants have orders on hand sufficient to 

 keep them running for months to come. The 

 foreign movement of oak is far less striking. 

 Stocks are going forward in considerable 

 quantities, but the trade is not what it should 

 be, and exporters are cautious in their deal- 

 ings. The ruling prices here are so high as 

 to compel exporters to ask figures which the 

 foreign consumer is disinclined to pay. and 

 this has a retarding effect on the business. 

 In some features the foreign market shows a 

 measure of activity. 



Ash is selling almost as freely as oak in the 

 domestic trade and prices are very satisfac- 

 tory to manufacturers. Available stocks are 

 not large, and the demand for supplies is 

 urgent. Chestnut, hickory and other woods 

 are in good request, though the quantity of 

 these woods taken here is not large. The re- 

 ceipts of walnut as a rule meet the demands 

 of the trade, and the returns yield good mar- 

 gins of profit. The export movement is with- 

 out important changes, the foreign trade being 

 constant in its attachment to the wood. Logs 

 and lumber of desirable quality always com- 

 mand fair prices. 



Pittsburg. 



The hardwood situation at the opening of 

 Hi. fill campaign shows two very decided fea- 

 tures. A strong demand, with financial con- 

 ditions favorable to satisfactory buying, and 

 lock with prices heading upward. 

 1 quickening In demand is not so notice- 

 able as some years when the summer busl- 

 was lax. This year business during 

 July and August was much the best that 

 Pittsburg firms ever enjoyed. This rapid con- 

 sumption of hardwood made It Impossible for 



the mills to accumulate much stock. They 

 are busy now doing their utmost to re- 

 plenlsh broken stocks but they make little 

 gain in the yards. The long list of old orders 

 has. however, been cut down considerably of 

 late, and shipments are much more satisfac- 

 tory than a few weeks ago. From present 

 •cts the retailer will make some heavy 

 calls upon wholesale hardwood men before 

 November, for the amount of building on 

 warrants a very good fall trade. 

 Prices are well sustained in all lines. Hem- 

 lock remains the most aggravating feature of 

 the local market, for there is practically none 

 to be had even at the second advance of 50 

 cents a thousand which went into effect late 

 in August. Chestnut is quoted $2 higher in 

 some quarters than one month ago and is 

 selling well. Oak, especially quarter-sawed 

 stock, is very strong in market with some ex- 

 cellent orders being figured. The demand for 

 oak ties for street railways Is one of the 

 features of the trade just now, as is the call 

 for chestnut telegraph and telephone poles. 

 Lath and shingles are finding a better mar- 

 ket then in the summer, the greater portion 

 of the stock going to the towns around 

 ijurg where shingle roofs are allowed. 

 Some cedar for posts is being handled 

 through local firms. Poplar is a very good 

 seller with prices firm on the better grades 

 of stock, but a little weaker on common 

 lines. Maple flooring is leading the market 

 in that wood and considerable beech is being 

 sold in small lots partly as a substitute for 

 hemlock. 



Buffalo. 



Although there has been a slight decline in 

 demand during the summer, the fall trade is 

 expected to more than make up for this and 

 the buying from certain regular large con- 

 suming sources is already setting in. There 

 is not much discussion of prices of most hard- 

 woods from the South, though dealers who 

 have been in the lake trade for a long time 

 are complaining that there is very little left 

 for them after they have paid the prices 

 asked for hardwoods in Michigan. 



For this reason there is not much attention 

 paid to elm, and there is more maple and 

 basswood here than is needed. Elm is so low 

 in cooperage that it ought to sell reasonably 

 well as lumber, but such is apparently not 

 the case. It has been used quite freely for 

 cheap furniture as oak ran low, but other 

 woods have now evidently taken its place. 



There is a great demand for all sorts of 

 doors, manufacturers despairing of supplying 

 New York needs in that direction, until 

 building is less active. Boston is building 

 much less and is in no distress, but New 

 York would pay almost any price in some 

 1 mces for high-grade hardwood veneered 

 doors. It is also reported that there Is a 

 growing demand for solid chestnut doors, and, 

 as they are used both as a substitute for 

 white pine and some hardwoods, It may hap- 

 pen that the deficiency in oak and the high 

 price of pine will be somewhat offset in that 

 way. 



Oak is keeping in supply better than would 

 be supposed, since mills in the Southwest 

 so badly tied up early in the season by 

 wet weather and now by yellow fever. It 

 comes now largely from mills east of that 

 region. Birch is active as a substitute for 

 oak; ash is always wanted; poplar remains 

 quiet, and cyoress is growing scarcer, though 

 the price Is the same. 



Saginaw Valley. 

 There is marked Improvement in hardwood 

 tions compared with a month ago. Fur- 

 niture tradesmen are beginning to buy stoek 

 and there is a good demand for more gr 



1 and 2 common maple has been ad- 



