flaMwooil RocoM 



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



Hardwood Interior Finish, Wood Chemicals, Saw Mill and WoodworHlng Machinery. J 





Vol. XXIV. 



CHICAGO. JUNE 10. 1907. 



No. 4. 



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



THE HARDWOOD COMPANY 



HENRY H. GIBSON. EJ.cor. EDGAR H. DEFEBAUGH, Manager. 



7th Floor, Ellsworth Bidg., 355 Dearborn St., Chicago, III., U.S.A. 

 Telephone Harrison 4960 



Easlern Office: 31U Land Tille BuilJ.ng. Philadelphia. Jacob Holliman. Represenlalive. 



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VENEER MEETING. 



Senii-annual meeting of the National Veneer and Panel 

 Manufacturers' Association, Auditorium Annex, Chicago, 

 Thursday and Friday, June 20 and 21. first session 10 

 o'clock a. m. 



General Market Conditions. 



The liiirihvood tratlc the cuiintry over is not particularly active, 

 as will be noted by market reports from all the chief consuming 

 couters, in this issu'^ of the Hardwood Becord. Happily stocks 

 of dry lumber are sold up closely in every producing section, and 

 therefore it happens that with the diminishing insistence for 

 hardwood lumber, there is no shading of values save in rare 

 exceptions. Tliese seem to be in firsts and seconds and sap gum, 

 which within the last few days have been offered at considerably 

 less than past quotations, and West Virginia oak is being quoted 

 at from $1 to -$2 off in the eastern markets. 



In the great area of hardwood production in the Southwest, 



prevailing weather conditions are still very bad. There has been 



an endless flood of rain and the mills have not yet been able to 



run more than half the time on account of inability to secure logs. 



There is a little accumulation of stock in some rare cases, but 



generally speaking every foot of reasonably dry lumber is being 



shipped out as fast as cars can be secured. In the North basswood 



and black ash are practically out of the market and the stocks of 



maple and birch are pretty low. Poplar today stands at the very 



head of the list in demand, and with short stocks and heavy call, 



prices are fending upwards rather than otherwise. Cottonwood 



and oak are reasonably close seconds in demand. 



^ In the news columns will be found an analysis of building opera- 



— tions for May which is a surprise, as they show a slight gain in 



y^he aggregate over that month a year ago. Some cities seem to 



—ibe booming in this respect, while others show a tremendous falling 



jl^off. It is thought that local conditions govern these marked 



Dehanges. 



The furniture trade the country over is not up to expectations; 

 neither is the interior trim business, hardwood door making, agri- 

 cultural implement and wagon trade. All these usually large 

 buyers are holding off on purchases, having the very prevalent 

 idea that they will be able to buy hardwoods at lower prices later 

 in the season. 



Veneer and panel makers still seem to have all the business they 

 can carry, but prices remain unsatisfactory and comparatively few 

 plants are making any considerable amount of money. The hard- 

 wood flooring people with their accumulation of orders and a fair 

 current demand are having all they can do. Apparently a vast 

 quantity of hardwood flooring is going into old buildings to replace 

 worn-out yellow pine and other softwood floors. The demand for 

 the rest of the season looks very promising. The call for 

 mahogany, cherry and walnut seems to be growing, as the furniture 

 and electric trades are increasing their use of these woods. 



On the whole, the hardwood situation shows marked strength by 

 reason of the paucity of present and prospective stocks, and it can 

 scarcely be predicted that there will be any diminution of conse- 

 quence in prices during 1907. 



A School of Inspection. 



Perhaps the most notable paper presented at tlie Atlantic City 

 meeting of the National Hardwood Lumber Association was the one 

 suggesting a school of inspection for training young men, especially 

 amateurs, into a correct knowledge of the way in which hardwood 

 lumber should be graded 'to accord with standard rules. 



In the past, associations and individuals have selected inspectors 

 who have been educated in a hit-or-miss sort of way and their inter- 

 ]iretation of rules has varied in accordance with the environment 

 under which they worked. It has been a rare thing for two in- 

 spectors to get anywhere near each other when it came to matters 

 of reinspection, and the result has been equally unsatisfactory to 

 lioth seller and buyer. Old-time inspectors who have been edu- 

 cated to do the work in a certain way are very loath to amend 

 their ideas of grades, even when a printed page of specific rules is 

 before them. It is the boast of more than one that he has not 

 I'hanged his grading methods for a quarter of a century, but does 

 the same under National or Manufacturers' rules that he did before 

 either were promulgated. This has been the serious difficulty en- 

 countered by association managers of grading systems. 



The plan of taking young men, preferably common school gradu- 

 ates, who are desirous of fitting themselves for employment that 

 will pay a very handsome salary is admirable. It is proposed to 

 establish several of these schools throughout the United States, so as 

 to cover experience with all varieties of timber, and by transferring 

 classes from one point to another, let each individual gain a com- 

 ]irehensive knowledge of all hardwoods and thus enable him to 

 inspect lumber of every kind, no matter where he finds it. It has 

 been suggested that the Biltmore estate in North Carolina would be 

 one admirable location for one school, on account of the great 

 variety of woods encountered there. It is suggested that a second 

 school might be established at Cadillac, Mich., as this point offers 

 fine residence facilities and hardwoods are manufactured there under 

 the best possible conditions; moreover, it is a point at which all 



