Published In the Interest of Hardwood I^umber, American Hardwood Forests, Wood Veneer Industry, Hardwood Flooring. 



Hardwood Interior Finish. Wood Chemicals, Saw Mill and Woodworking Machinery. '-'^RARv 



CHICAGO. May 10. 1907. 



No. 2!'^'^*^icm 



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



THE HARDWOOD COMPANY 



Henry H. Gibson. President 



OFFICES 



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



Telephone Harrison 4960 



TERMS OF ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION 

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In all other countries in Universal Postal Union ..... 3.00 



Subscriptions arc payable in advance, and in default of written orders to the 

 contrary are continued at our option. 



Entered at Chicago Postoffice as Second Class Matter. 



Advertising copy must be received five da>.ys in ab.dvaLnce of 

 publication da^te. Advertising rates on application. 



ASSOCIATION MEETINGS. 



National Hardwood Lumber Association. 



The tenth annual convention of this association will be 

 held on Thursday and Friday, May 23 and 24, 1907, at 

 Atlantic City, N. J. 



National Lumber Manufacturers' Association. 



This organization will hold it.s amiual meeting on Tuesday 

 and Wednesday, May 28 and 29, at the Auditorium on the 

 Jamestown Exposition grounds, Norfolk, Va. 



General Market Conditions. 



Eeportu from the chief lumber cousiimiiig centers of the United 

 States, as reflected in the market reports in this issue of the Hard- 

 wood Eecord, indicate that there is a slight diminution in demand 

 for hardwoods in nearly all parts of the country. It is not of euougli 

 importance to warrant shading prices in the least and they are still 

 very firm on all varieties of woods. This condition is no exception 

 in the great consuming district of Chicago. Weather conditions 

 prevailing in the South are again very bad. There has been a 

 continuous fall of rain for more than a week, and a large portion 

 of the southern hardwood producing section is afloat. This militates 

 against active log supply, and it is estimated that the average saw- 

 mill is at least thirty days behind the output of a year ago, which 

 was small enough. 



There seems to be no disposition on the part of either manufac- 

 turers or jobbers to worry in the least over trade slackening a bit, 

 and they feel as though they would like to have an opportunity to 

 catch up with business a little and get the order books fairly well 

 cleaned up, w'hich they have been unable to do for a long time. 



In the Chicago district the furniture trade constitutes a large per- 

 centage of hardwood buyers and manufacturers have not had as 

 large a trade as they expected, hence are holding off on placing 

 lumber orders. This is one feature that contributes to the lessening 

 of the local trade. The situation is the same in Grand Eapids and 

 Roekford, other large furniture manufacturing centers. In the 

 wagon trade several associations are advising their members to sus- 



pend buying, in hopes that the market will be broken and that they 

 will soon succeed in placing orders for less money. 



As a general proposition the hardwood situation is very strong and 

 will remain so, even if buying falls off to a considerable extent, as 

 stocks in every producing section are remarkably short and there 

 seems no likelihood of an accumulation of a normal amount for 

 months to come. Buyers can bank on the prophecy of the Hardwood , 

 Record that general hardwood values will not be less than they are 

 at the present time for a good while. . '. 



Northern hardwoods are in just about as short supply as, are 

 southern, and there is very little dry stock of anji variety offered. 

 Basswood, thick maple, black ash and rock elm are exceptionally 

 short. There seems to be an increased call for mahogany, and (he 

 trade in cherry and black walnut is even better than usual. The 

 veneer people are as busy as ever and many orders have to be re- 

 turned because of inability to execute them. This is true of sawn, 

 sliced and rotary-cut stock, as well as of panels and other built-up 

 stock. 



Flooring manufacturers are all remarkably busy, and these insti- 

 tutions are up against considerably increasing values of rough lum- 

 ber without a compensating increase in the price of their flooring 

 product. Those engaged in this line of production who are not 

 stumpage owners are having their margins whittled down to an un- 

 satisfactory basis. A marked example of this condition is oak floor- 

 ing, which does not command a price commensurate with the high 

 price of oak limiber. 



Timber Supply of the United States. 



The United States as a whole consumes each year between three 

 and four times as much wood as all its forests can produce in the 

 same inten'al. The average acre of forest in this country grows 

 about ten cubic feet annually instead of the thirty or more which 

 it should in order to keep pace with the drain upon it. Since the 

 year 1880 more than 700,000,000,000 feet of timber have been cut 

 for hunber alone, including SO. 000,000, 000 feet of coniferous timber 

 more than was estimated to be standing in the entire eoiuitry by 

 the census of 1880. 



The Forest Service, which has just issued a circular dealing 

 W'ith the timber supply and with stumpage estimates as furnished by 

 important authorities, is sponsor for the startling statements made 

 in the above paragraph. A study of the document will lead to the 

 usual conclusion that forest products of the United States are being 

 consumed far too lavishly, and that the inevitable result will be a 

 timber famine unless the government lays a heavy hand upon such 

 depredations. 



With regard to hardwoods, the amount of stumpage is very in- 

 definitely known, and is determinable only with difficulty, owing to 

 the scattered and uneven stands. It was estimated at some 435,- 

 000,000,000 feet in 1880 and at about 300,000,000,000 in 1900; 

 although as late as 190.5 other than government authorities placed it 

 at 400,000,000,000. Whatever it may be, that which is fit for the 

 saw is rapidly decreasing. In 1900 the hardwood cut was 8,634,000,- 

 000 feet; in 1904, 6,781,000,000 feet. The present annual cut of 

 hardwoods is estimated at about 5,000,000,000 and consists of ap- 

 proximately forty-three per cent oak, twelve per cent poplar, nine 

 per cent nmple and lesser amounts of numerous other timbers in 

 this class. 



