3° 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



vanced $1 a thousand. Basswood has been a 

 little slow, but it is now being called for 

 quite liberally. Birch has had few friends 

 for months but it is now materially ap- 

 t.ed. Oak and sash continue strong 

 and active, while elm and beech are mov- 

 ing much more freely than they were A 

 large quantity of hardwood will be cut in 

 eastern Michigan during the fall and win- 

 ter, owing to the improvement in trade and 

 the generally excellent trade conditions of 

 the country. 



Indianapolis. 

 Lumber dealers here report a satisfactory 

 condition of trade, with excellent prospects for 

 a good fall business. The volume of business 

 for the summer exceeded the expectations of 

 lumbermen and they feel encouraged. With the 

 great amount of building that will be done in 

 Indianapol.s yet this year, the dealers naturally 

 are optimistic in their views of the future. 

 The demand lias continued steady for nearly all 

 the leading grades of lumber, on which the p 

 n firm. No material changes in p 

 have been reported 



Cincinnati. 



An Increasing demand has been experienced 

 in this market during the pasi two weeks 

 and indications in all directions point to a 

 heavy fall trade. Furniture manufacturers 

 have not entered the market as yet for their 

 fall and winter wants but they have beei 

 tending inquiries and it is expected that sev- 

 eral big deals will be consummated shortly. 

 Building operations have continued on an ex- 

 ive scale and the outlook remains rosy. 



Plain oak firsts and seconds have met with 

 a brisk demand, and with dry stocks down 

 to requirements prices have shown a rising 

 tendency. Commons have not proved as ready 

 a sale as the upper grades. Quartered oak 

 has moved nearly as well as plain except in 

 the lower grades which are very dull. Prices 

 show no alteration. The demand for ash firsts 

 and seconds has been extremely good and 

 dry stocks have been drawn on with the con- 

 sequence that values display a hardening 

 tendency. From export sources a fair demand 

 has been received for the upper classes of 

 gum but less than a normal trade was done in 

 No. 1 common and culls. Cottonwood con- 

 tinued rather quiet with the movement con- 

 Iined chiefly to selects. Box common and mill 

 culls were inactive, with prices showing easi- 

 ness. An improved demand has been noticed 

 for high-grade poplar for export. Poplar 

 common met with a fair request from domes- 

 tic dealers. Cypress has been strong in tone 

 under fair wants distributed among all kinds 

 and a general poor supply. Other hardwoods 

 were unchanged both as to demand and 

 price. 



Chattanooga. 



The outlook for the domestic and foreign 

 trades for the coming fall ami winter months 

 is good. There are now more inquiries con- 

 cerning orders than there have been in sev- 

 eral months. Owing to the fact that many 

 mills which were closed down in the fever- 

 stricken districts have resumed operations, 

 business in this section is becoming more en- 

 couraging. Plain and quartered oak continue 

 very scarce and prices are advancing steadily. 

 The activity in local building interests is un- 

 precedented, and planing mills have all they 

 can do to supply the demand. The call for 

 poplar is rapidly increasing. This wood is 

 being used extensively in house building in 

 the South. 



ing into the market for supplies, and there is 

 a consequent stir visible in places that have been 

 rather quiet for some time past. There is a 

 steady, active call for dry plain oak, both red 

 and white, and the supply of these is not any 

 too plentiful after the heavy call made upon 

 them for the past two weeks. Ash. particularly 

 thick ash, is selling better than for some time, 

 and at strong, steady figures. Poplar firsts and 

 seconds are moving fairly well ; gum and Cot- 

 tonwood are called for only in a moderate way. 

 Red gum has recently shown a better tone in 

 some sections, and the call for it is increasing 

 from the North, East and West at an encourag- 

 ing rate. Gum for flooring purposes has been 

 selling to some extent in contiguous territory, 

 and the sales on this account are reported to 

 be quite considerable in some instances. On the 

 whole, the hardwood situation, both at the mills 

 and yards, is showing an Improvement over con- 

 ditions prevailing for the past two or three 

 months, and the trade is expecting better things 

 from now on. 



Nashville. 

 The summer season with its attendant dull- 

 ness is at an end an. I alreadj business shows 

 a decided picking up. During August there 



heavy rains which interfered som. 

 with logging and the operation of sawmills, 

 but weather is now ideal for such work. The 

 fall rains are not expected for some time yet, 

 and when they come lumbermen will have cut 

 quantities for the tides of Cumberland 

 river. The local market is improving, lum- 

 i look lor better prices in all lines. 

 The building boom which has existed in 

 ii, . ontinues un- 

 abated. Local mills are running full Mast. 

 box factories and tie and cedar men, as 

 wc ll as the hardwood flooring plants are do- 

 Ing a rushing business. 



The market is steady on plain oak, with 

 good demand. There is a heavy demand for 

 chestnut and It Is scarce. The value of that 

 wood for interior finish is being recognized 

 more fully. Inquiries for quartered oak are 

 increasing althi while the quartered 



article in the upper grades was slow, many 

 manufacturing plants using the lower grades 

 Good grades of poplar are in demand, while 

 lower ones are very slow. 



St. Louis. 

 There has been some Improvement in the 

 hardwood market during the past fortnight. As 

 usual at this season the big factories are corn- 



Memphis. 

 Sonn improvement I ted In the de- 



mand for hardwood lumber in this city and 

 business is- fully up to the average for this 



,.f the year. The most notable activity 

 during the past fortnight has been in cotton- 

 wood. According to some of the large firms 

 in this city this improvement extends more 

 or less t" all grades of the wood, although the 

 most pronounced activity is shown in box 

 boards and firsts and seconds. Gum is in bet- 

 ter call in the higher grades and there is a 

 fairly satisfactory movement in the l 



s as well. Poplar is not showing any- 

 great activity, but it is relatively in betti r 

 lore. Plain oak continues 

 very strong, with offerings exceptionally light 

 and with prices firmly maintained. Many of 

 mills arc sold well ahead on their output 

 The upper grades of plain oak. both red and 

 white, are in more active request than com- 

 mon and cull, but the latter show no surplus, 

 and in som.- instances pronounced scarcity is 

 the rule. Efforts to increase the output of 

 plain oak have not been successful as the de- 

 mand has been so active as to take up every- 

 thing offered at full prices. Ash is in ex- 

 cellent request, and it is difficult for buyers 

 to find what they want. The greatesi 

 tivity is In thick stock, running from 2 to 4 

 inches in thickness and varying in length 

 from 16 to 32 feet, but there is no trouble in 

 disposing of any grade or dimension. Stocks 

 are relatively small, so that ash is consid- 



ered splendid property. Cypress is in good 

 demand, even selects and shops moving readi- 

 ly, indicating that the lower grades are shar- 

 ing in the excellent conditions which surround 

 this wood. Quarter-sawed oak is the only 

 real laggard on the market. It is slow in all 

 grades and in both red and white. Red is 

 even slower than white. The amount of dry 

 lumber available is not large, and anything 

 like a seasonable demand would draw seri- 

 ously upon the offerings in short order. Prices 

 are held fairly well on the higher grades, but 

 there is some softness in the lower. 



\. though some complaint is heard over the 

 irregularity of the market and the fact that 

 there has not been as much improvement in 

 the hardwood demand as was expected Sept. 

 1, the trade here regard the outlook as en- 

 ding. The output of the mills has been 

 decidedly below normal for the past few 

 months, and as a consequence there is a not- 

 able shortage in the hardwood lumber supply 

 here. An increased demand for the various 

 items is expected to develop soon because of 

 the known lightness of stocks in the hands 

 of large consumers consequent on the hand- 

 to-mouth policy of purchase in vogue during 

 the past few months. 



Kxcellent conditions obtain in the various 

 industries of the United States, and pros- 

 perity is generally shared by all sections of 

 the country. The amount of building through- 

 out the country is enormous, as is shown by 

 the returns from the larger cities. The con- 

 ice between Russia and Japan 

 is accepted as foreshadowing an increased 

 .1- maml for lumber in the foreign markets 

 which have taken but sparingly of the Ameri- 

 can product during the past few months. This 

 means a i of confidence in financial, 



mercantile ami industrial circles throughout 

 England and the continent, an element which 

 transaction of normal busi- 

 in all lines, including hardwood lumber 

 ami the products mad*- therefrom. 



New Orleans. 



Plain oak continues to be the feature of the 

 hardwood market, although it is reported easier, 

 with stocks scar..- ami hard to obtain. Stocks 

 .if quartered oak arc reported plentiful, but there 

 i rery little moving, and there is no sign of 

 better things on the horizon. There is some 

 demand for poplar, but the market for ash Is 

 flat, ami gum is not in demand tit all. There is 

 a light demand for bay poplar among those 

 using it as a substitute for Cottonwood. There 

 is ii.. n the dull condition of cotton 



wood. The principal export shipments are going 

 i.. Antwerp, Copenhagen and Hamburg. A satls- 

 factory movement of plain oak in the lower 

 grades is reported in the coastwise trade, New- 

 York getting He shipments. There is also some 

 Tupelo gum moving to New York. 



Stave exporters report satisfactory condi- 

 tions. Trices for export shipments are high and 

 firm for all classes of staves, with the excep- 

 tion of those for the Italian market, orders for 

 i do ma come in freely. It is thought 

 i hat this year will see a more satisfactory sup- 

 ply of stock, and thus far prices have been 

 well maintained. The drought in Spain is glv- 

 tng exporters some uneasiness for the future 

 demand in that country, hut so far the market 

 has nor been adversely affected. 



The cypress lumber market is in excellent 

 condition for this season of the year, and busi- 

 ness is constantly increasing. All during the 

 summer business has kept up well and reports 

 from agents and traveling men indicate that the 

 fall trade will open up early ami in good shape. 

 All the mills are running at their full capacity 

 and for a part of the summer many of them 

 were running nights in order to accumulate 

 sto.k ami get it in shipping condition before 

 fall. There i^ a possibility of prices on some 

 ii. ins being advanced about Oct. 1. These new 



