HARDWOOD RECORD 



37 



hardwoods such as has cbaracterized the other 

 woods of late. Oak in a lew places is reported 

 :i little weaker, but in this particular case the 

 market could stand quite a slump in demand 

 and still be in good shape, for since January 1 

 the demand for oak has been fast and furious. 

 Maple and hickory are, if anything, in better 

 demand than a month ago. Chestnut is not 

 moving so freely and stocks seems to be a lit- 

 tle nnwieldly in some quarters. This is espe- 

 rially true of the lower grades which a few 

 months ago were selling with a wonderful 

 I>ertinacity. 



Buflfalo. 



The situation in hardwood is much the same 

 as it has been for quite a long time, changes 

 in it being much less common than in most 

 branches of the trade. Prices are steady. 

 With so much of the lumber sold by our hard- 

 wood dealers cut by themselves or bought be- 

 fore it is cut they have been able to make their 

 prices and base them on cost, while the jobber 

 in lumber is having a hard time of it, espe- 

 cially in the white pine trade. Xo jobber in 

 that trade desires the prices to be as high as 

 they are and it is generally held that the saw- 

 mill owner is getting too big a profit, but the 

 jobber is helpless and he must somehow man- 

 age to get a profit out of the business, no mat- 

 ter what he has to pay for his stock. 



It is not easy to say why hardwood prices 

 do not go up faster than they do, for the cost 

 of production is higher every year. Putting 

 the reports of the dealers together it would 

 .seem that it is not going to be possible to get 

 a fair supply very long, and yet the yards are 

 well supplied with oak, there is always birch 

 and maple enough and If chestnut, ash and 

 poplar are scarce there is at least some one of 

 them to be had and there is promise of more 

 poplar before long. Stocks of chestnut are of 

 fair size, but can hardly be considered well 

 assorted, and white ash is low, though there is 

 not quite a fair lot of it going from the mills 

 to the consumer direct. A steady increase In 

 the use of elm and basswood from this time 

 on is expected. 



Saginaw Valley. 



There is a fairly active demand for hardwoods 

 and the movement is seasonably good to consum- 

 ers with a firm range of prices. Ash lumber is 

 scarce and beech is $2 higher than sixty days 

 ago. Basswood is also strong and wanted. Deal- 

 ers report no accumulation of dry stock, which 

 appears to be sold up closely. Mills are all in 

 operation. Maple flooring is doing mtich better 

 than it did last year. Cars are easier and yard- 

 men who have made purchases are getting in 

 stock. A number of dealers who handle stock 

 extensively do a good deal of business through 

 their offices direct from the shipping point to 

 the customer. For instance, if a dealer buys 

 stock at any milling point he sells certain grades 

 of stock and ships direct from the mill to the 

 customer, thus effecting a considerable saving in 

 freight and handling. 



The market is regarded as satisfactory at tills 

 time both as to the volume of business and prices. 



Cleveland. 



The demand for hardwoods continues good. 

 Plain white and red oak and poplar are in good 

 call. White ash is especially sought by manu- 

 facturers who find it difflcult to .supply their 

 wants. Birch is moving more rapidly than it 

 has for the past two or three months. The de- 

 mand for box lumber has fallen oft; somewhat, as 

 most of the boxmen seem to be well filled up with 

 stock. 



Indianapolis. 



use. The railroad yards seem to be filled with 

 empties and. according to one local company, 

 the railroads are almost begging lumbermen to 

 accept them. Such a remarkable thing can 

 hardly be accounted for, except that little grain 

 is being shipped and the uncertainty of Indiana 

 crops is creating little demand for threshing 

 machinery and implements. 



Prices on hardwoods are steady, although it 

 is said the tendency is toward a reduction rather 

 than increase. There has been no change re- 

 cently, however. There seems to be a plentiful 

 supply of all hai'dwoods except quartered oak. 



Bristol. 



There is a slight lull in business in this sec- 

 tion at this time, but prices are holding up re- 

 markably well under the conditions. There is a 

 slight falling off in the demand for oak. Poplar 

 and chestnut are easily in the lead. 



The present lull has made it possible for many 

 shippers who were behind with orders to catch 

 up. The supply of cars is now ample and lum- 

 bermen are able to make shipments promptly. 



Local exporters report that market unsettled 

 and the complexion of the situation is hardly as 

 roseate as it was a month ago. The falling off 

 in demand in the' foreign markets is believed to 

 be attributable to the shipment of too much 

 stock on consignment by shippers anxious to 

 keep up their trade. 



Cincinnati. 



The month of .luly always brings a dull sea- 

 son to the local market, and this year the de- 

 mand has fallen off some. The demand, how- 

 ever, is still better than it was the same time 

 last year. The receipts of lumber have been 

 heavier than for some time and, coupled with 

 the arrival of hot weather and the usual dull- 

 ness at this season of the year, has caused 

 the local situation to ease up a bit. The de- 

 mand for poplar did not ease up any and sales 

 are being made as usual, with the price still 

 held firm. The weakest item in hardwoods at 

 present is plain white oak. The demand has 

 decreased so that dealers reduced the price 

 .slightly. Cypress is moving as usual with 

 the demand a little lighter but the price the 

 same. Furniture dealers are not urgent buy- 

 ers as they were some weeks ago. which is 

 responsible for the lack of demand for mahog- 

 any, oak and other woods used in this line. 

 Prices on these woods have not fallen any. 

 and it is stated they will not, unless a more 

 serious problem hits the lumbermen. Cincin- 

 nati was visited by a slight flood during the 

 past two weeks but it did not have any 

 affect on trade in general. The general opinion 

 of lumbermen is that the market will continue 

 on this basis during the month of July and the 

 early part of August, but at the latter part 

 of August the demand is expected to pick up 

 and the slackness of the past weeks will be 

 entirely made up. 



For the first time in many months local hard- 

 wood men are enjoying the distinction of hav- 

 ing more empty cars offered them than they can 



Chattanooga. 



Dry stocks are scarce in this locality, but the 

 demand for all grades of lumber is good. Hard- 

 woods receive most call, although pine lumber 

 and building material are taken readily on account 

 of the great amount of building going on. Pop- 

 lar, including all grades, is probably the strongest 

 of the hardw'oods just now. Plain oak is easy, 

 a condition which is usual at this season of the 

 year. Basswood is in good demand, although 

 lumbermen have very little of this wood in their 

 yards. One of the largest firms of this city sold 

 only about 150,000 feet last year. Chestnut is 

 active and is being used extensively by coffin 

 . concerns. 



The export trade is quiet on account of the 

 strikes on the continent, but prospects are that 

 these troubles will be adjusted in the near 

 future. 



Lumbermen have experienced a great deal of 

 trouble in getting log supplies on account of the 

 heavy rains. Logmen were detained at their 

 farms whenever they could get favorable weather 

 for seeding and consequently mills depending 

 especially on the railroads for supplies have fall- 

 en short of the log supply. 



There is fine logging tide in the Tennessee 

 river now and a bigger log supply here for the 

 river mills than has been known for some time. 

 The supply will probably run the mills until Au- 

 gust or September. The car shortage is a little 

 easier than it has been lor many months and 

 lumbermen have no "kick" coming in this respect. 

 They say the railroads seem to use every effort 

 to furnish cars on time. 



NashvlUe. 



The local market is getting livelier than it has 

 been for the past few weeks for the reason that 

 the arrival of fresh stocks and the return of 

 pleasant weather have tended to help business 

 wonderfully. The tide in the Cumberland has 

 brought much timber to the city and the rail- 

 roads report a heavy movement. Quartered oak 

 remains scarce and its price is stiff and firm. 

 Plain oak is a little more plentiful. It remains 

 firm in price, however, and in good demand as 

 well. Dry ash is well nigh unobtainable and the 

 market is practically bare of it. Poplar con- 

 tinues scarce and in heavy demand. In fact, 

 there is always enough demand ahead to 

 promptly take up any new stock that may ar- 

 rive. Chestnut is not in as heavy demand as 

 usual. 



Memphis. 



The demand for hardwood lumber is quite 

 up to the average for this time of the year, but 

 there is not as much business doing as there 

 was a short time ago. This statement applies 

 to new orders. Buyers do not appear to be in 

 quite as much of a hurry as they were several 

 weeks ago. and the trade is therefore beginning 

 to experience some of the usual summer dull- 

 ness. There are large shipments of lumber in 

 progress ou old engagements, this being made 

 possible by increased railroad facilities and 

 by the excellent weather conditions which are 

 facilitating loading operations. There is no 

 evidence of weakness anywhere in the hard- 

 wood situation. Stocks in the hands of both 

 manufacturers and wholesalers are relatively 

 light, and, while production is increasing, it 

 will be some weeks before this lumber will be 

 available for use. Some members of the trade 

 express the view that there may be temporary 

 recession in values during the summer, but the 

 prevailing idea is that, if there should be such 

 a reaction, there will be a quick recovery be- 

 fore fall. The shortage in stock is estimated at 

 > from forty to fifty per cent, and it is felt that 

 it will take a decided increase in output or a 

 marked decrease in demand to materially affect 

 values. There is some shading of high grade 

 gum and cypress, but the lower grades of 

 both woods are in good demand and are mov- 

 ing out very readily at satisfactory prices. 

 The demand for oak of all kinds is good and 

 values are well maintained at the recent level. 

 Cottonwood is not bringing as high prices as 

 recently in firsts and seconds, which are rela- 

 tively plentiful. However, there is an excel- 

 lent demand for boxboards and for the lower 

 grades, both of which are exceptionally scarce 

 and hard to buy. Box manufacturers are con- 

 suming enormous quantities and enjoying an 

 almost unprecedented volume of business, and 

 for this reason their wants are exceptionally 

 full. There are only moderate quantities of 

 poplar available and all offers are taken read- 

 ily at current quotations. Ash is in exseilent 

 demand and all efforts to bring local holdings 

 up to normal have proven unavailing. In high 

 grade gum there is quite a call for special 

 widths, the preference being giveii to stock 

 running twelve inches and up. The export 



