32 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



twenty-seven sections of the reservation. A 

 bill was passed at the lasl session providing 

 for the cutting of only the down timber. This 

 plan was unpractical, and the present bill is 



to remedy existing conditions. There is said 



to be :;".. i feet of hardwood lying on the 



ground which must be cut soon or it will be 

 worthless. 



HardWood Market. 



(By HARDWOOD RECORD Exclusive Market Reporters.) 



Chicago. 



The local hardwood trade ran be estimated 

 :iv very fair to good. The trade in most lines is 

 heller than a year ago, but just at this time 

 tlie furniture people are not buying very 

 strongly, as this is the semi-annual sales period 

 ■ if lliis industry, and manufacturers will ii"l 

 stock ii|i heavily until the result of the January 

 sales is generally known. 



Boston. 



The markel tor hardwood lumber has mil 



shown anj degl I' activity during the past 



two weeks, although a steady business is in 

 progress. Many consuming manufacturers are 

 busy and have good orders bonked ahead. There 

 is no relief from car shortage and a slow move 

 men! of freight. Leading dealers stale that all 

 their advices from mill points show that it is 

 almost impossible to get ears when they are 

 wanted. In one section in the South several 

 thousand ears are lied up in repair shops and 



the railroad company has not tnonei et gh to 



rush these repairs through. Furniture manu- 

 facturers' in this section of the country are busy. 



The plain oak situation shows but little 

 change. Offerings are not large. The demand 

 for quartered oak is not heavy, tine inch stock 

 is steady, but commons are in larger offering. 

 Brown ash is in fair demand and firm. The 

 call for whitewood is fair. Yards here are not 

 carrying large stocks and offerings of desirable 

 grades from mill points are small.. The demand 

 for cypress is moderate. The most desirable 

 grades ami sizes are scarce. Shipments from 

 the mills arc slow. .Maple flooring is steady. 



New York. 

 There is but little change in hardwood condi- 

 tions. The salient feature of local trailing 

 continues to be the scarcity of good dry bard 

 wood lumber of all kinds, in the face of a good 

 healthy demand. As a matter id' fact there is 

 less complaint beard in both the wholesale and 

 retail hardwood trade now than is usually the 

 case at this time of year, while prices on nearly 

 everything ire remarkably Arm. Reports reach 

 ing the local market from mill points and 

 through returning buyers are all of the same 



tenor, to the effect that g I lumber is'scarce ai 



mill points and that the usual spring trade will 

 be ushered in with short stocks and high prices 

 To this end holders of any amount of hard- 



\\ Is ill the heller grades are either holding On 



to them or only letting them go at excellent 

 prices. Tbe demand is very general tor the 

 better grades of all slocks, oak. ash. poplar. 

 birch and chestnut possibly having the most 

 call, but the general list is in good shape as 

 regards Both demand and price. Dry while ash 



is exe Hugh scarce and He' trade is practieallj 



paying whatever the millman or wholesaler has 

 -a mind to ask. The lower grades are holding 

 up very well. As a whole lb,' local situation is 

 very firm and satisfactory. 



Philadelphia. 

 Reports from all sides give evidence of con- 

 tinued prosperity in the lumber business. In- 

 stead of the usual inertia of the month of 

 January, business has been brisk during tic past 

 fortnight", with an Inclination to buy ahead, 

 in, accounl Of the scarcity of stock at the mills 

 anil the car shortage some bouses, which have 



a lair slock of a specially called lor w 1 on 



band, allow only a certain amounl to be sold 



per nib, and olhers have issued instructions 



to their representatives not to take any more 

 orders for the month, as it is necessary to get 



out the delayed orders first. Trices accordingly 

 are soaring. Conditions in the mill districts are 

 desperate. Orders are piled up to enormous 

 figures. A prodigious prosperity marks the lum- 

 ber industries; buyers arc anxious to obtain 

 stocks ami yards are looking to increase their 

 supplies, especially as the delay means higher 

 figures 'in the near future, but the stock is 

 wanting. The car shortage is very serious and 

 there is no indication as yel of any improve 

 ment. 



Poplar, chestnut and ash are especially hard 

 in get. wiih prices high. Oak keeps a firm hold 

 on the market, and basswood is in good call, 

 with prices advancing. Red cherry is steady. 

 with the low grades in the lead. Quartered oak 

 retains iis old position. 



Building operations continued active through 

 mil' the mild weather, but work has been re- 

 tarded during the pas! fortnight by the constant 

 rains. The furniture factories of eastern 

 Pennsylvania, sash and door mills, rail and 

 trolley road building, indoor finishings, ami the 

 veneer working industries are still lively. 



Baltimore. 



There have been no developments of special 



moment in the hardw 1 trade during the past 



two weeks. All the woods in general use re 

 main firm and active as far as the demand for 

 slocks can he satisfied, with weather condi- 

 tions and the roads as well as the car 

 shortage against the manufacturers. In many 

 instances especially high prices are quoted for 

 supplies, and even then dealers are compelled to 

 admit it is impossible to promise delivery. As a 

 consequence quoted figures do nol always bear 

 an accurate relation to the markel. which, it 

 must In- added, continues high and evinces a 

 tendency inward further advances. Inquiry ai 

 I be mills shows that little lumber remains in 

 Hie bands of the manufacturers, while the roads 

 are deep in mud and operations are conducted 

 in the most favorable instances only under 

 serious difficulties. Some of the plants have 

 had to shut down on account of floods, and 

 production, generally speaking, has been greatly 

 curtailed. Ash is in urgent request and the 

 lumber thai reaches the markets is readily taken 

 up at figures thai must appear very attractive 

 to the producers. The chief question now is 

 one of gelling supplies. I'pon it the dealers 

 as well as the exporters depend, for foreign busi- 

 ni ss is appreciably curtailed by the scarcity of 

 stocks al a time when buyers had been brought 

 to regard I be current quotations as acceptable. 

 The local linns all report that they are doing 

 little at the present time, while the require- 

 ments of the city and surrounding territory in 

 Hie way of hardw is seem practically un- 

 diminished. 



Pittsburg. 

 In spile of the customary lull in business 

 attendant upon the closing of one year's 

 accounts and opening those of a new. the hard- 

 wood trade is pretty active. It is doubtful if 

 any year for a long time has opened with con- 

 ditions so uniformly favorable to the hardwood 

 trade. The tremendous volume of business in 

 rite country is making railroads and manufac- 

 turing projects "l all kinds go ahead with a 

 rush which makes a v*'i-y active call for hard- 



W Is 



Prices show- an upward tendency. Local yards 

 arc beginning to buy again to replenish their 

 slocks which the annual inventories showed 

 were badly broken. 



Oak is still the prime favorite with buyers 

 and there is not enough of it to go around. 

 Wholesalers are leaving no stone unturned to 

 gel small stocks, of white oak especially. Agents 

 have done thorough work this winter in scouring 

 Ohio ami western Pennsylvania for small tracts 

 of oak and by spring it is estimated that there 

 will not be 21111 acres of oak timber left avail- 

 able within a U"i mile radius of Pittsburg. 



Hickory, ash. cherry and maple are all moving 

 well. The larger part of the shipments goes to 

 manufacturers of furniture and implements in 

 tie- Last and in Michigan. Ohio and Indiana. 

 Dry stocks are low and prices named by the 

 wholesaler are paid with little murmuring by 

 the yards and factories. 



Buffalo. 



Tin' hardwood lumber concerns of Buffalo are 

 now getting pretty well through their inven- 

 tories, the natural holiday lull is over and 

 business is improving. Ii has not been bad, 

 although there has been no disposition to push it 

 lately. It is so hard to keep up a yard stock 

 that a dealer often feels ii just as well I" let 

 sales lake cat f themselves. 



Prices of hardwoods at the mills, especially in 

 the lake region, are goiug up. This is pleasing 

 le the dealer with mills of li is own. though it 



does Hot suit tile jobber SO Well. 



There is a steady drain on stub lumber as 

 oak. Handlers of it are wondering if they can 

 bold their own. They long ago gave nil the 

 hope of keeping more than occasional lots of 

 ash and chestnut. As to poplar the report favors 

 a rather better stock this year than last, for 

 certain of the larger producers, who fairly went 

 without any last year, are reporting that they 

 ba\e a pretty fair stock of logs now. Prices 

 a re high and si rung. 



Some of Hie dealers arc afraid that there will 

 he a demand for birch strong enough to cut it 

 down lo the level of other hard woods. This will 

 be a misfortune, as it has been easy of late to 

 substitute birch if there was shortage of the 

 wood wanted. 



Troubles over cars continue. The supply is 

 somewhat better, but the roads are so jealous 

 oi each other that they will not take ears from 

 one line to another unless they come according 

 to certain rules, which are constantly changing. 

 The latest regulation is In make shippers mark 

 even board with the name of the consignee 

 if ii is to go into piece ear bus, which makes 

 a lot of work. 



Saginaw Valley. 

 The shortage of cars has somewhat handi- 

 capped lumber shippers, nearly all of them being 

 short, but market conditions are satisfactory. 

 Lumber has taken on a . much stronger tone. 

 There is not an excess of stocks in dealers* 

 hands and the outlook for spring trade is par- 

 ticularly favorable. Some large blocks of lum- 

 ber yet lo he manufactured have been sold by 

 local millmeu to he delivered when ready. 

 Prices are strong. No. 2 common and better 

 basswood is held at $25 to .si's ; mill culls, 

 $18; elm is held, at $22 to $29. Log run beech 

 is quoted at $15, and Xo. 2 common birch at 

 $20 to $25. Maple firsts and seconds are held 

 ai $24 : No. 1 at .$17 and $18; No. 2 at $11 and 

 $12, and No. :: al $9 and $10. Ash is strong at 

 $30. Not a great deal of ash is now available 

 in this market. Red oak is held at $35. 



Cincinnati. 

 Lumbermen are doing an active business, and 

 everything in hardwoods sells without difficulty. 

 The brisk demand that has prevailed over this 

 district continues, and if desirable stocks were 

 obtainable a much greater volume of business 

 would be transacted. At the present time there 

 is not one item on the list of hardwoods that 

 consumers do not seek, and it is not a question 

 of price hut simply gelling the lumber desired. 

 Poplar without doubt is the leader of all woods, 

 despite the recent rise in price. This advance 

 did not interrupt the demand, but rather added 



