60 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



March 25, 1921 



? LOOKING FOR ? 



DRY HARDWOODS 



Here are a few items of year old 

 stock that we want to ship quick: 



Att Regular Wid'hs and Lengths 

 ASH — Wisconsin Brown 



No. I & Btr.. 5/4 8 mos. in 



No. 2 & Btr. 6/4 8 mos. dry 



BIRCH 

 No 1 & Btr. 4/4. 10 mos. dry (cood widths and lengths) 



No. 1 & Btr. 5/4. 8 mos. dry 1 car 



No. 1 & Btr. 6/4. 8 mos. dry 1 <»' 



No. 1 & Btr. 8/4, 8 mos. dry 1 car 



No. 1 & Btr. 10/4. 7 mos. dry 2 can 



BASSWOOD 

 No. 1 & Btr. 6/4. 10 mos. dry 2 cars 



Wheeler-Timlin Lumber Co. 



WAUSAU, WISCONSIN 



Send US TOUB 

 InQulrles for 

 NORTHERN 



HABDWOODS 

 and HEMLOCK 



Foster-Latimer Lumber Co. 



OFFER THE FOLLOWING 



DRY HARDWOODS 



BIRCH 



4/4 1st & 2nd ,... 35,000' 



4/4 Select 100,000' 



4/4 No. 1 Common 50,000' 



4/4 No. 2 Common 35.000' 



«/4 No. 1 Com. & Btr 20,000' 



SOFT ELM 



4/4 No. 2 Com. & Btr 75,000 



5/4 No. 2 Com. & Btr 30,000 



10/4 No. 1 Com. & Btr 20,000 



WIRE, PHONE OR WRITE FOR PRICES 

 MAIN OFFICE AND MILLS 

 MELLEN, WISCONSIN 



VESTAL LUMBER 

 & MFG. COMPANY 



INCORPORATED 



Soft Textured Oak 



Poplar 



Black Walnut 



Tenn. Red Cedar 



KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE 



BAND MILLS AT VESTAL 



A SUBURB OF KNOXVIIXE 



FONDE, KY. 



furniture people. There is some improvement noted in the demand for 

 poplar, especially for use in machinery manufacture and for telephone and 

 other specialty box work. There is nothing being purchased by the railroad 

 people, or by the chair makers, and little by the musical instrument manu- 

 facturers. Though they are still pretty well stocked up and have had a 

 number of returns, the piano manufacturers are beginning to buy some. 

 Accumulation seems to be chiefly in the cheaper grades, demand being 

 better for the first and seconds, and pretty dull for the common grades. 



BALTIMORE 



Conditions in the hardwood trade show very little change, with the 

 demand still of a decidedly halting character and with the range of prices 

 giving little or no evidence of improvement. Because of the Indifferent 

 demand and the unsatisfactory returns, producers manifest no eagerness 

 to turn out stocks, the mills that have been closed continuing for the most 

 part their policy of waiting until a change for the better shall come that 

 will lift values up to a level which offers some chance of profits. It is even 

 reported that plants which have remained active for months will also close 

 down, still further curtailing the production, the market being regarded as 

 such that nothing is to be hoped for Just now. Holders of timber lands 

 naturally feel that they do not want to go ahead cutting up their timber 

 and getting nothing out of their work. They take the view that It Is 

 better to wait until the requirements of users of hardwoods have once 

 more established acceptable returns. The cost of mill labor, of course, has 

 gone down, but it does not appear to be low enough for at least some of 

 the mill men, who are determined to avoid sacrificing their stumpage. The 

 plants now idle, it is also to be borne in mind, will hardly be in a position 

 to turn out stocks advantageously for some months, for their organizations 

 have been disrupted and it will be necessary to recruit forces again and 

 weld them into efficient bodies, which cannot be done in a day. The increase 

 in the Inquiry noted some time ago does not seem to have kept up, the 

 trade being evidently affected by the general uncertainty in business, which 

 has not yet given place to more stable conditions. Big consumers, like the 

 Columbia Graphaphone Company, for instance, have been out of the market 

 and have not yet resumed buying in anything like normal volume, the stocks 

 acquired sufficing for the wants now experienced. Some of the largest wood 

 working plants are running with greatly reduced forces, which, naturally, 

 makes for pronounced quiet fn the hardwood trade. 



COLUMBUS 



There is a better feeling in the hardwood trade in Columbus and central 

 Ohio territory. While orders have not Increased to any great extent, still 

 inquiries are more numerous, indicating a disposition to enter the market. 

 Retailers are probably the best customers at this time. Some factories are 

 placing inquiries, some of which have developed into orders. On the whole 

 there is a better tone to the trade and the worst of the slump is believed 

 to be over. 



Retailers have rather low stocks of hardwoods, judging from the reports 

 of travelers. In many cases the stocks are badly broken. With prospects 

 for building with the opening of spring rather bright, dealers are showing 

 an inclination to come into the market. Architects and contractors are 

 busy figuring on construction work for the season, much of which will he 

 the building of dwellings and apartments. 



Manufacturing concerns are also making inquiries, preparatory to placing 

 some orders. Box factories are buying to a certain extent and the same is 

 true of implement and vehicle concerns. Furniture factories are also 

 making inquiries. Piano and talking machine factories are still going slow 

 in placing orders. Reserve stocks In the hands of factories are getting 

 lower and this will drive them into the market. 



Prices are fairly well maintained at former levels, with wide spread on 

 some items. 



CLEVELAND 



Prospects for a better market for hardwoods here is seen in the partial 

 revival of industrial activity in northern Ohio. The fact that while some 

 plants are resuming operations, others are closing, is making hardwood 

 Interests here skeptical about there being any real business in sight from 

 this quarter, but on the other hand many agree that inquiries coming 

 forward in the last fortnight would indicate that such business is not far 

 distant. Increased activity in the automobile trade here and In cities 

 nearby has started, though in a limited way so far. Manufacturers report 

 that dealers again are In the market, indicating that surplus stocks of cars 

 are being absorbed as the active season approaches. Inquiries for materials 

 with which to complete their partly finished cars and heard among hard- 

 wood interests in consequence. There is little to be expected for some 

 time to come from the general manufacturing and furniture making con- 

 sumers. Sharply reduced buying part on the part of those who have been 

 buying heavily in furniture and kindred products, and the still large stocks 

 in retailers bands, has slowed down manufacturing considerably, and until 

 present stocks are worked off, or reduced in price sufficiently to attract new 

 business, it Is not expected that much new production will be done. Hard- 

 wood distributors are concentrating on the foregoing factors largely because 

 they see little movement of material for interior finishing or other building 

 purposes until wage agreements between employers and building trades 

 operatives, which expire May 1, are settled. 



