36 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



ash is sold under contract and it Is very hard 

 to pick up any in that state. Practically the 

 same may be said o£ hiclsory. Every car o£ 

 hickory that is heard o£ is snapped up almost 

 before it is o£E the saw. Basswood is in better 

 demand and some good orders have been placed 

 latel.v. Several dealers have had good inquiries 

 for elm lately, most of them coming from the 

 hub men of eastern Ohio. There is a better in- 

 quiry for maple — both flooring and two-inch 

 planking. Oak finish and timbers are still among 

 the best sellers on the local list, the bulk of 

 the orders coming from out of the city. Dealers 

 are finding it hard to get ties, especially white 

 oak and switch ties. Although there is less 

 river work being done this year than last and 

 a few of the railroads are cutting down their 

 outlay for improvements, heavy timbers and 

 piling are making a good showing on the order 

 books and are bringing satisfactory prices. Con- 

 siderable beech has been sold through this mar- 

 ket lately for piling. Sound wormy chestnut 

 holds a front place in the inquiries and is being 

 sold at slightly higher figures than two months 

 ago. 



The local trade is somewhat dull. Building is 

 "coming up" a little in Pittsburg, but does not 

 show the activity that was expected. Architects 

 and owners are very slow in awarding contracts 

 and the yard men are accordingly tardy in get- 

 ting their stocks out to contractors, which makes 

 them timid about giving large orders. House 

 building bids fair to be good after the weather 

 opens up, but so far operations are greatly de- 

 layed. The market shows no weakness in prices 

 and in general the outlook for higher prices is 

 better than March 1. Reports from the mill 

 owners everywhere indicate that they are work- 

 ing hard to keep up with orders and the present 

 cut of logs is already spoken for in most cases. 



Buffalo. 



There is special report just now from some 

 of the hardwood dealers of activity in maple, 

 which is bringing satisfactory prices. It is go- 

 ing so fast that a new supply will be needed 

 soon. 



Another wood that is much wanted is chest- 

 nut, though dealers find It harder every season 

 to get supplies of it. If they find a lot of it 

 they take it these days without much reference 

 to anything but the price, for it will always 

 sell. 



The oak supply is unsteady, though there 

 seems to be enough at present for all needs. A 

 few dealers found for some time that they could 

 not get rid of their plain red oak, but they can 

 sell it all now and more if they had it. Quar- 

 tered is now scarcer than plain. Prices are 

 considerably higher than last year. 



Every possible effort is being made to keep 

 up the stock of birch, for it is always needed 

 and If there is plenty of it there will always 

 be at least one good wood that will answer for 

 almost anything. It is in fair supply now and 

 there will be a good lot brought down by lake, 

 when lumber tralBc starts, which will probably 

 be early in May. 



It now looks as though there would be a bet- 

 ter sale of elm and basswood than there was, 

 as these woods have been laid aside for some 

 years on account of the high mill prices. 



Basswood culls are firm at $18 and elm culls 

 at $13 and $14. Maple firsts and seconds are 

 strong at $24 and Nos. 1 and 2 range from 

 $12 to $18. 



Ashevllle. 



The hardwood market in western North Caro- 

 lina remains firm. There is a slight slump no- 

 ticeable in prices for the best grades of oak, 

 which is attributed to the vast quantities of 

 this wood which are now coming out of Arkan- 

 sas and Mississippi. Prices for best grades of 

 poplar remain at the top notch. Chestnut is 

 stiff, with the demand greater during the past 

 few weeks and prices better than for many 

 months past. Great quantities of inferior chest- 

 nut are going to the tannic acid plants in this 

 section, while the commercial chestnut Is in good 

 demand. Recently a representative of the Na- 

 tional Casket Company was in this section. This 

 concern, which uses 20,000,000 feet of chestnut 

 annually, has purchased its year's supply from 

 the West Virginia forests, but owing to the 

 inability of loggers to get the wood to railway 

 stations and also the car shortage, it has been 

 forced to buy stock elsewhere. The car shortage 

 in western North Carolina is no longer a menace 

 to the trade and the hardwood men are in high 

 spirits. Lumbermen are being quite liberally 

 supplied with empties and only at times is there 

 anything like a shortage. This condition, how- 

 ever, has only prevailed during the past several 

 weeks, and dealers are taking advantage of the 

 situation. 



Bristol, Va.-Tenn. 



Tlie past fortnight has seen little or no 

 change in hardwood conditions. The mills 

 ai'e nearly all in operation and the conditions 

 in the rural districts are more propitious to 

 the manufacturer than they have been at any 

 time this year. 



The car supply Is not as good as it should 

 be — indeed, many shippers report that they 

 are still handicapped by inability to get cars. 

 In many instances gondolas are being boxed 

 up and used for box cars. 



The weather has been fair for the past few 

 days, though the month as a whole lias seen 

 much rain, to the detriment of business. 



Saginaw Valley. 



Local conditions are more satisfactory than 

 they have been in some years. The market 

 has developed much strength during the year 

 and prices have increased all along the line. 

 There has been a good trade and dry stocks 

 of most kinds of wood are scarce. Basswood, 

 oak and ash are particularly strong. Maple 

 is doing materially better and elm and birch 

 are stronger. Beech has also advanced. Some 

 large lots of the latter No. 2 common have 

 sold •within ten days at $16 and $17. Beech 

 and maple culls are bringing $12 and $14. 



Cincinnati. 



The volume of business transacted during 

 the last fortnight showed an increase com- 

 pared with the two weeks previous, and this 

 is largely attributable to the railroads fur- 

 nishing better shipment facilities. The car 

 shortage that has hampered business for sev- 

 eral months has to a certain extent been 

 relieved and many of the orders that had been 

 on file for weeks have been filled. The lumber 

 yards at present fully bear out the strain 

 they stood in the last few months, being 

 almost stripped of the most desired lumber 

 such as poplar and oak. A good demand 

 continues for tliese woods. Oak is holding its 

 own and the same might be said of cypress, 

 gum. hickory and mahogany. The furniture 

 dealers have been doing a better business 

 this season than for some time, and this 

 has caused the market on mahogany and 

 other woods used for its manufacture to take 

 on a decidedly firm tone. The spring trade 

 has been fairly well supplied, but still large 

 orders for immediate delivery are coming in. 

 The market as it looks at present will be 

 held at the same tone for some time to come. 



Chattanooga. 



The demand for lumber in this section is 

 much greater than the supply. Dry stocks 

 are snapped up promptly at good prices. 

 Poplar is perhaps as scarce as it has ever 

 been in this vicinity. Chestnut is in great 

 demand and oak is still strong. ■ 



The export trade is active. Expressed in 



the words of one of the local lumbermen, this 

 is a sellers' market. 



The car situation Is a little easier than it 

 has been for some time and lumber is being 

 shipped out of the city and logs into the city 

 at a fair satisfactory rate. 



St. Iiouis. 



The market in hardwoods in St. Louis con- 

 tinues active, and a record business would be 

 transacted were It possible to obtain ample 

 supplies to meet the inquiries which are ur- 

 gent for all classes of hardwood. Some of 

 the dealers here report that the demand for 

 certain items of stock, especially those in 

 which tliere have been advances recently, is 

 not quite as active as it was in March. A 

 like statement is made regarding some of the 

 higher class woods, which prior to the be- 

 ginning of March sold without effort. How- 

 ever, the general volume of buying seems to 

 keep lumbermen busy and to absorb practi- 

 cally everything in desirable stock quickly. 



Price advances on several items are confi- 

 dently expected before the month is out. The in- 

 creased cost and difficulty of getting out pop- 

 lar, ash and cottonwood make them very 

 strong items and they will never be as cheap 

 as they have been in the past under any 

 reverse. Oak continues firm, with prices 

 strong on all classes of stock. Gum is show- 

 ing steady improvement and is selling readily 

 at satisfactory prices. 



Nashville. 



The local market continues stiff and firm, 

 with an upward tendency. The feature during 

 the past few days has been the advance in 

 quartered oak. There has been a tendency 

 recently to use more of this wood than per- 

 liaps any other, unless it be poplar. Poplar 

 will bring today in this market almost any- 

 thing a dealer chooses to ask for it. The de- 

 mand for plain oak has not been so noticeable 

 during the past week or so, but it is not 

 dragging. No one seems to have large stocks 

 of It on hand, and for that reason it is not 

 inoving so briskly. The recent and incessant 

 spring rains liave served to retard logging and 

 sawmill operations in the country. The roads 

 are still impassable in many places, and this 

 has produced a shortage in the amount of 

 timber that should be coming to this market 

 in the spring. 



Memphis. 



There is very little change to report in 

 hardwood conditions. There Is no decrease in 

 the demand while there is very little If any 

 Increase in the amount of dry lumber avail- 

 able for immediate use. Buyers are having 

 difficulty in covering their requirements and 

 they are quite willing to pay full prices for 

 whatever is offered. On the other hand, hold- 

 ers, while realizing that there is some increase 

 in the quantity of lumber going on sticks, 

 understand that there is nothing that points 

 toward even a moderate stock of dry lumber 

 for some time and they are therefore indis- 

 posed to make concessions on what they have 

 on hand. Thus firmness characterizes every 

 item on the list. 



Ash is perhaps the strongest feature, the 

 demand for this being so large that it cannot 

 be properly taken care of. Even the firms 

 which make a specialty of handling this wood 

 are having a very hard time getting all they 

 need for their customers. Plain oak is firm 

 in all grades and the same is true of quarter- 

 sawed stock. The scarcity of low grade gum 

 and cottonwood Is a feature which continues, 

 while the demand for both is exceptionally 

 large, owing to the activity in box making 

 circles. Tlie higher grades of these woods, 

 however, are finding ready sale around top 

 prices of the year. There are only moderate 

 offerings of cypress and poplar and everything 



