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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. DECEMBER 25. 1906. 



No. 5. 



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



THE HARDWOOD COMPANY 



Henry H. Gibson, President Frank W. Tuttle, Sec-TYeas. 



OFFICES 

 Sixin Floor Ellsworth Bldg., 355 Dearborn St. Chicago, 111., U.S.A. 



Telephones: Harrison 4960 Automatic 5659 



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The entire contents of this publication are covered by the general copy- 

 right, and articles must not be reprinted without special permission. 

 Entered at Chicago Postoffice as Second Class Matter. 



^Advertising copy must be received five days in advance of 

 publication date. Advertising rates on application. 



HARDWOOD ASSOCIATION MEETING. 

 Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen's Association. 



The eighth annual meeting of this association will be held 

 at the Grand Hotel, Indianapolis, on Friday, Jan. 11, 1907. 

 Matters of much importance to the trade will be brought 

 up for discussion and a large attendance is desired. 



The Compliments oi the Season. 



Another year is nearly at an end. It has been a year of unex- 

 ampled prosperity in all legitimate business pursuits. The hardwood 

 trade of the country has met with its full share of success. 



With tin- 11 u;li\vood Record the year has been a successful one, The 

 circulation of the publication has grown by leaps and bounds, and 

 the advertising patronage has shown an increase of more than fifty 

 per cent. 



The publishers of the Eecord, while not satisfied with the standard 

 of excellence attained, can simply say that they have done their 

 best in making a newspaper that should be of value to the totality 

 of the manufacturing, jobbing and consuming hardwood and veneer 

 trade of the country. This ' ' best ' ' of 1906, it is sincerely hoped, 

 may lie mail'' better in 1907. 



For the support the paper has had during the year — for this mani- 

 festation of confidence and approval — the publishers wish to return 

 their sincere thanks, and to wish their patrons a .Merry Christmas 

 and a Happy New Year. 



General Market Conditions. 



The year is ending the country over with the strongest buying in 

 hardwoods that has prevailed since 1892, and the demand is even in 

 excess of the remarkable last month of that year. These conditions 

 prevail in the buying field throughout the middle West and in fact 

 clear to the Pacific Coast. If there is any diminution in demand 

 anywhere it is manifest in the chief commercial centers of the East. 

 Some of the dealers in the latter section claim that business is just 

 as active as it has been any time during the year, while others say 

 that owing to the holiday and stock-taking season buyers are not 

 making as free purchases as they did late in the fall. If the latter 

 statement be true it is nothing more than might be expected, but 

 every one prophesies an increased demand immediately after the 

 first of the vear. 



The highest values obtained in any lumber producing section are 

 doubtless realized in the Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi river 

 regions. Stocks have grown very short in these sections, with very 

 little prospect of any accretion for months to come, and prices have 

 been gradually advanced. The extremely active buying which has 

 prevailed in the middle West for months has tended to show com- 

 paratively high prices in the general sources of supply for lumber 

 that goes to the great manufacturing districts of Ohio, Indiana and 

 Illinois. It is probable, freights taken into consideration, that the 

 lumber manufacturers in the territory noted are getting more for 

 their hardwoods than the manufacturers of West Virginia, Virginia 

 and North Carolina, whose stock goes largely into the eastern trade. 

 This fact is partially manifest in the matter of price and partially 

 in the somewhat higher grading of lumber demanded by the eastern 

 trade. It is safe, therefore, to assume that southern manufacturers 

 of hardwoods have succeeded in securing a considerably larger net 

 price for their output than has accrued to hardwood manufacturers 

 farther east. 



Although there have been heavy tides in the streams which supply 

 poplar logs there is no diminution in the demand or price for this 

 wood, as it is well known that there will be no dry stock available 

 from this run of logs for several months to come. The demand for 

 poplar is so strong that there is very little chance that prices will 

 diminish. 



Weather conditions that have prevailed in the oak-producing sec- 

 tions for the past six weeks preclude the possibility of any over- 

 stock in any variety, and the tendency of prices is constantly upward. 

 It would not be surprising if oak commanded an average advance 

 of $5 per thousand before spring. Both Cottonwood and gum are in 

 short supply and prices are ranging firm. 



The call for hickory is still far in excess of any possibility of 

 supply. Every hickory-producing section is being scoured for sup- 

 plies. White ash is almost as scarce, and the trend of values is 

 upward. 



The call for cherry and walnut is exceptionally good for these 

 woods, which are only sold in limited quantities for special purposes. 

 There is probably less in sight at the present time than there has 

 been in many years. 



The mahogany situation is anomalous. Stocks are generally very 

 light with a remarkably strong demand, and still values have not 

 advanced to any appreciable extent. The English markets are barren 

 of logs and comparatively limited quantities are arriving at home 

 ports. There is such a manifest shortage of mahogany that the 

 wood would seem to be an excellent purchase at present values. The 

 Spanish cedar market, so far as stock goes, is in about the same 

 shape. However, prices of this wood have materially advanced dm 

 ing the last twelve months. 



The flooring factories engaged in the production of oak, maple, 

 birch and beech flooring are still tested to their capacity to take 

 care of contracts for the many large office, mercantile and public 

 buildings going up throughout the country. 



Manufacturers of veneers and panels are loaded down with orders 

 ahead of their output from sixty days to six months. It is probable 

 that with the clean-up of orders on hand the price of both veneers 

 and panels will be materially advanced, as certainly they are very 

 much lower in comparison than hardwood lumber. 



The Veneer and Panel Business. 



While the making of sawed veneers is an old industry the develop- 

 ment of the veneer and panel business into a great commercial pur- 

 suit is comparatively recent. Handsome veneer furniture built more 

 than a century ago is in evidence to this day. The veneers used in 

 this work were painstakingly sawed by a slow and laborious 

 process and were finished by hand. Perhaps a quarter of a century 

 ago manufacturers commenced to slice veneers from flitches. It has 

 only been within the last few years that the great development has 

 come in the production of large quantities of veneers which have 



