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I'opjright, The ITardwood Company, 1916 

 Published in iKe Inlercsl of the American Hardwood Forests, the Products thereof, and Logging. Saw 

 Mill and Woodworking Machinery, on the lOlh and 25th 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 

 537 So. Dearborn Street, CHICAGO 

 Telephones: Harrison 8086-8087-8088 



Vol. XLI 



CHICAGO, FEBRUARY 10, 1916 



No. 8 



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Review and Outlook 



LIBf 



The seriousness of the situation is unquestionably mitigated to a» ^^ 

 very considerable extent by the fact that a good deal of this lumbei*OTAf 

 undoubtedly ^^ent in to fill a gap that was already existent, and as UakI 

 .above stated, its aspect is not so menacing as it would be under 

 other circumstances because of the most excelent prospect as far as 

 the relation between supply and demand is concerned. 



Further east high water stages have already had their effect on 

 tlie production of hardwoods, but to nowhere near the serious extent 

 that has prevailed in the Mississippi country. In the eastern section 

 the most detrimental results have been the retarding of logging, as 

 ordinarily the mills and mill yards have not been seriously threatened. 



Eastern lumbermen have faced another drawback, namely, the 

 various embargoes instituted by different trunk lines on shipments 

 of certain products, among which lumber was included. In certain 

 cases these embargoes were lifted for a short period but the demands 

 for shipments were immediately so overwhelming that they were 

 again placed iu effect. So it has been extremely difficult to get 

 movements through properly, especially for export. The whole export 

 situation is still in pretty much of a muddle with continually increas- 

 ing rates, and uow with the added danger to Atlantic 'shipping, the 

 insurance question will add further prohibition to a successful 

 attempt at export business. Lumber is going out in better quantities 

 from the gulf ports, according to evidence, than it is from the 

 eastern seaboard. 



The tmexpected upheaval in manufacturing conditions makes it 

 increasingly difficult to figure accurately on the future. Until the 

 flood stages recede, or until it is possible to demonstrate how much 

 .■^tock will remain at the mills after the iloods, and whether or not 

 the markets have been saturated by additional shipments resulting- 

 from the floods, it will be hard to form a comprehensive or intelli- 

 gent opinion of what may be expected. Developments in the next 

 few weeks will have a material effect on the whole situation. 



The Cover Picture 



DEAD OF WINTEE IS NOT SO BAD A TIJdE in the forests of" 

 the Xorth, where the lumbermen are engaged in the serious work 

 of the season. It is the time when logs must come out of the woods 

 and reach the mills or the dumps and be ready for use when wanted. 

 Logs may be cut in summer, but they cannot be advantageously 

 Drought out of the woods at times other than winter, except such as 

 lie convenient to railroads or floatable streams. In every large log- 

 ging operation much hauling on lateral roads is necessary before the 

 long transportation to the mill actually begins. Such hauling is usu- 

 ally dene over temporary or improvised roads, which may cross swamps- 



General Market Conditions 



LlJiMlBEKilEiM AEE CEKTAIXLY AX UNFOKTUiNATE SET 

 of men. When trade is poor they are worrying over accumula- 

 tion of stock, and then just as soon as it becomes good tlic elements 

 unite against them to keep down their stock when they should be 

 producing considerable quantities to turn into cash on a ready market. 



The northern operators wanted snow for their logging. In a good 

 many cases they didn't get it, and the log injiut will be seriously 

 restricted. 



Southern loggers didn't figure on having high water until tlic 

 middle of spring. This year they are getting it practically in the 

 middle of winter, when they thought they had enough time to get 

 in logs to tide them over during high water. As a result many mills 

 have been down for several weeks, and there is no prospect of a 

 recession of water to allow them to operate again for some time ; 

 (hat is, in a good many sections of the Mississippi valley territory. 

 So they are going to have less lumber than they ought to have to 

 make up for the poor business which prevailed when they had plenty 

 of lumber and had to sell it for less than it was intrinsically worth. 

 There is nevertheless the redeeming feature that this high water is 

 going to dispose of every possibility of any imminent over-stocking 

 due to too great enthusiasm caused by renewed activity in buying. 

 There will be a general cleaning up which is accelerated by the 

 desire to move stock, even without orders in advance of high water 

 to prevent a flooding. This movement has been going on for some 

 time and as a consequence there will probably be less flooded lumber 

 than usually is marketed. When the waters go down, southern 

 hardwoods from the Mississippi country are going to be pretty scarce 

 jjroperty. 



The prediction has been expressed in a number of instances that 

 this consignment shipment in advance of flood stages would at least 

 temporarily break the markets in the leading consuming centers. 

 However, this prediction has not been borne out. Although a good 

 deal of hardwood Iural>er has moved in a hurry from that territory, 

 there is no noticeable effect as yet — that is no serious effect whicli 

 would indicate a general demoralization of prices on account of this 

 iuflux of salvaged stcck. As the water has in the main about reached 

 the high mark, or at least has gotten sufficiently high so that there 

 has been time to provide against increasing stages, it is but reason- 

 able to suppose that a goodly proportion of the lumber which would 

 be moring in advance of the rising water has already been loaded 

 and shipped. So any serious retarding influence on the hardwood 

 market as a result of this necessary action will have to manifest itself 

 in the near future in order to be taken as a serious consideration. 



