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Published In the Interest of Hardwood Lumber, American Hardwood Forests, Wood Veneer Industry, Hardwood Flooring, 

 Hardwood Interior Finish, Wood Chemicals. Saw Mill and Woodworking Machinery. 



Vol. XXIII. 



CHICAGO. JANUARY 25. 1907. 



No. 7. 



Published on the 10th and 25th of each month by 



o 



THE HARDWOOD COMPANY 



Henry H. Gibson, President 



FRANK W. TUTTLE, Sec-Treas. 



OFFICES 

 Sixtn Floor Ellsworth Bide;., 355 Dearborn St Chicago, III., U.S.A. 



Telephones: Harrison 4960 Automatic 5659 



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HARDWOOD ASSOCIATION MEETINGS. 



Hardwood Manufacturers' Association of the U. S. 



The fifth annual meeting of this association will he held 

 on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 29 and 30, 1907, at the 

 Gayoso Hotel, Memphis, Term. 



National Wholesale Lumber Dealers' Association. 



This association will hold its next annual convention on 

 Wednesday and Thursday, March 6 and 7, 1907, at the New 

 Winard Hotel, Washington, D. C. 



National Hardwood Lumber Association. 



The tenth annual convention of this association will be 

 held on Thursday and Friday, May 23 and 24, 1907, at 

 Atlantic City, N. J. 



General Market Conditions. 



A.-tivc Inlying still marks the situation in hardwoods. The great 

 shortage of hardwoods of nearly all descriptions has been emphasized 

 <luring the last two weeks. There is scarcely an item of stock that 

 lias not a dozen buyers after it. Perhaps the shortest item is oak in 

 all grades, with poplar a close second. The tides that have prevailed 

 in the southern rivers during the last two weeks have practically 

 closed down all operations. Comparatively few logs came forward 

 on this last rise. Streams are now settling away and an active 

 manufacturing period will prevail. The situation, however, means no 

 dry poplar for some months. 



There are a good many foreign buyers visiting the United States 

 at the present time, attempting to secure stock to supply their wants; 

 most of them are very much discouraged over the situation, as 

 domestic trade promises so much that manufacturers are loth to 

 accept much business for export. 



The flooring factories are all still verj busy and the demand 

 seems to be fully up to the output. This is not only true of oak 

 flooring but of maple and beech as well. Incidentally, beech flooring 

 is attracting a great deal of attention in the market, and the public 

 is fast learning that beech is a remarkably good flooring material. 

 The comparatively low price at which it is sold is somewhat of a 

 stimulus to the demand for it; outside of this, however, beech is 

 gaining recognition as a standard flooring material of unsurpassed 

 excellence. 



The demand for mahogany, notably in the furniture trade, seems 

 to be in excess of the supply. This is the first time in years that 

 the general mahogany market of the country lias been nearly depleted 

 of stock. 



The veneer factories are busy and the product of many of them 

 is sold from three to six months ahead. 



Getting Together. 



There were some interesting developments at the recent annual 



ii ting of the Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen's Association. The 



gentlemen composing this body, in common with all others who have 

 the best interests of the hardwood trade at heart, gave voice to the 

 spirit of conciliation in their discussions, expressing the hope that 

 eventually all elements of the hardwood trade might get together in 

 an agreement upon a universal base of hardwood inspection. This 

 expression of common sense is by no means a new attitude for the 

 Indiana association, as many of its members have preached this com- 

 mendable doctrine for years. 



Outside of the few radicals always encountered in association 

 work and a certain other element of the trade which delights in 

 having a confusion of grades to facilitate grade-juggling, the fact is 

 generally recognized that it would be the greatest wisdom to unify 

 all hardwood grading rules. 



Inspection should be made the same in all parts of the country, 

 and it looks now as though that desideratum is possible of realiza- 

 tion. In spite of the antiquity of the hardwood lumber business, all 

 capable men in the trade recognize that evolution prevails in all lines 

 in, lay, and that to keep up with business progress there must needs 

 be concessions from all elements of the trade to accomplish gnat 

 results. 



The discussion on the subject of grading prevailing at the 

 Indiana meeting, in which not only members of the Indiana associa- 

 tion but of the National Hardwood Lumber Association participated, 

 was all tempered with this spirit of harmony. From these discussions 

 and from opinions expressed by many other lumbermen prominent in 

 the hardwood industry, it would seem that the trade is beginning to 

 realize certain basic principles which are eminently just, and which 

 should influence a uniform inspection system. These basic principles 

 may be analyzed about as follows: 



First, that values can not be legislated into grades — the higher 

 the grade, the higher the price it will command the lower the grade, 

 the lower the price. 



Second, that so long as grades are made to fairly well suit the 

 requirements of the consuming trade, it is an indifferent matter what 

 specific rules shall apply. 



Third, that as in all other lines of manufacture, the man who 

 makes the lumber should be the arbitrator of gradesj so long as he 



