36 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



a better oall than the southern vaneties. There 

 is practically uo black ash. rock elm or bass- 

 wood for sale and the stocks of maple, birch and 

 beech are sold close up to green stock. The 

 local hardwood flooring trade is in very good 

 shape and the interior finish and furniture fac- 

 tories are very well employed. Prospects for a 

 good fall trade are excellent. 



Boston. 



There has been no marked improvement in 

 Ihe demand for hardwood lumber in Boston 

 and New England. While this condition exists, 

 no weakness has developed in values and deal- 

 ers do not expect any. Manufacturing consum- 

 ers of hardwoods are not willing to anticipate 

 their wants to any extent. Manufacturers of 

 interior finish are fairly busy. Those making 

 furniture have fair sized orders on hand, but 

 are not willing to buy lumber ahead very freely. 

 As the time for moving crops is about at 

 hand the question of cars is becoming a most 

 serious one. It is freely predicted that rolling 

 stock will be more difficult to secure at shipping 

 points than last year. Several large dealers 

 have been bringing considerable lumber in and 

 storing it. Whether this is a speculative move 

 m done to take care of regular customers re- 

 mains to be seen. 



The demand for ash has been fair and prices 

 are a little firmer in some instances. Plain oak, 

 one inch, is firmly held and offerings of desira- 

 ble stock are small. The call for quartered oak 

 is good. All dealers complain of a shortage of 

 good stock. Prices are very firm. One inch is 

 held at .fSD to $87. Whitewood is firm. Some 

 buyers have heen talking an easier market, but 

 with actual sales of one inch at $60 this week 

 it does not look as though holders would be will- 

 ing to drop quotations. Chestnut is in fair call 

 and black walnut is steady and firm. 



ising. Flooring concerns are active and the 

 veneer and cigar box men are moving along 

 steadily. 



Ash, poplar and chestnut still hold the lead, 

 price cutting does not prevail to any extent and 

 there is no sign of weakening anywhere. Build- 

 ing work is progressing rapidly, new permits 

 are being taken out almost daily, co«sequently 

 a steady consumption of lumber may be ex- 

 pected for some time. 



New York. 



The hardwood situation in this district shows 

 a stronger tone than is usual at this time of 

 the year. While it is true that there is a slight 

 increase in offerings, the demands of the mar- 

 ket keep supplies pretty well absorbed. Prices 

 are very firm. Ash is in particularly good 

 demand with supplies scarce. Of course the 

 present lirice situation is deterring buyers from 

 purchasing as much hardwood as they ordi- 

 narily might, but this is by no means a bad fea- 

 ture of the market, as it simply means a post- 

 ponement of active buying for a little while, as 

 the demands of the manufacturing and general 

 trade will undoubtedly be felt in the earl.v fall, 

 when buyers will all come into the market at 

 once. Of course the waiting is done in the hope 

 that prices will ease off, and while there is 

 some opinion expressed to that effect in certain 

 circles, the reports relative to the amount of 

 supplies available at mill points would cer- 

 tainly seem to preclude anything but firm prices 

 for the balance of the year. If tlie latter proves 

 to be the case there will undoubtedly be an ad- 

 vance in prices when the real demands of the 

 market are in evidence. There is a fair trade 

 in plain oak. poplar, birch, hasswood, maple and 

 chestnut, and although in a number of these 

 woods supplies are good they are not sufficient 

 to crowd Ihe market, and sales are made at 

 good figures. 



Philadelpliia. 



A decided improvement in the hardwood situ- 

 ation is noted as the fall season approaches. 

 Those who thought it advisable to defer buying 

 until fall, believing values would drop, are now 

 beginning to realize their mistake, and are doing 

 the best they can to protect themselves. The 

 car shortage is again troublesome. Evidently 

 there is no accumulation of good stocks at mill 

 centers, and values are steady, with an upward 

 movement imminent. The indications for fall 

 and winter business to all appearances are prom- 



Baltimore. 



Tlie hardwood market continues satisfactory. 

 Dealers as well as manufacturers say they are 

 receiving numerous inquiries, and while the 

 offerings appear to be fairly liberal at the pres- 

 ent time, values are firmly maintained. Oak and 

 other lumber had begun to move in fair quan- 

 tities and there was a prospect that accumu- 

 lations might attain some volume, when the 

 car shortage grew more acute and shipments 

 Were again impeded. Mill men especially along 

 the Norfolk and Western railroad complain of 

 inability to get cars and as a result stocks are 

 piling up at points of manufacture, which im- 

 poses a strain upon the resources of the mills. 

 Some producers say they are putting twice as 

 much lumber on sticks as they send to market. 



The better grades of oak especially are in 

 good demand, with the quotations about as high 

 as ever. Some feeling of uncertainty prevails, 

 hut it does not seriously affect the trade. The 

 lower grades are fairly easy and there is no im- 

 mediate prospect of a change. The export move- 

 ment is without striking features, stocks in some 

 divisions of the trade being larger than is con- 

 sistent with a strong market. 



Ash, chestnut and other hardwoods are in very 

 fair request at figures that encourage produc- 

 tion. The selection is perhaps more liberal, but 

 nothing like congestion prevails and the out- 

 look is very promising. Poplar is to be had 

 in larger quantities in the lower grades, while 

 the better stocks are holding their own and bring 

 in some instances record prices. Box makers 

 are exceedingly busy and consume large quan- 

 tities of lumber, while the export business also 

 takes large supplies, though some of the foreign 

 markets appear to be a trifle congested. 



It is true, however, that there will have to 

 be an adjustment of sorts before long to make 

 up for the lack of poplar, ash and chestnut, but 

 it can be done, at least for awhile. Dealers say 

 that it is better now to use oak than ash that 

 costs more than oak, and the same is true of 

 chestnut. Very odd that any one will pay mori; 

 for chestnut at any time than for oak. Still 

 there is quite a good amount of all these woods 

 coming into the Buffalo yards and the extra 

 effort to find them will succeed awhile longer. 



As to such woods as birch and maple, they 

 are not only plentiful but they are going into 

 almost anything for which hardwood is needed. 

 The only thing that does not look right about 

 them to the jobber is that the sawmill prices 

 are getting pretty high. Some of the jobbers 

 are slaying out of the lake district so far as 

 birch and ash are concerned, but the producers 

 hold meetings and discover that they arc now 

 going around the jobber mostly and selling to 

 the consumer direct. Then the jobber has noth- 

 ing to do but buy his own timber and set ui) 

 his own mills. In this way he places himself 

 in a more independent position than the white 

 pine dealers have been able to do and he can 

 hold the position he has carved out so long as 

 there is timber to cut. 



Bay City and Saginaw. 

 There is no use in denying what is kiiown 

 to the trade generally — that there has been foi- 

 ninet.v days an easing up in the absorption 

 of lumber. Higli prices have influenced this, 

 but there are other causes also. Last year 

 there was such an extraordinary demand the 

 manufacturers sol(J everything ahead for the 

 current year, and they have not yet been 

 able to accumulate much stock. Dry lumber 

 Is reported quite scarce. Tlie market is steady, 

 though less persistent than it was some few- 

 months ago. There is no reason to expect 

 any sharp depreciation of prices, and it is the 

 consensus of opinion that quotations will rule 

 steady. There has been a call for hardwood 

 culls for the box trade, and some very large 

 contracts have been filed in this line. Nego- 

 tiations are also in progress to purchase a few- 

 hundred million feet of timber and have the 

 logs shipped by rail to Bay City. 



Pittsburg. 



September opens with the hardwood trade in 

 good shape. Lumbermen are getting their full 

 share of inquiries and orders and are looking 

 for about all the business they can handle. 

 Prices are generally satisfactory. A few dealers 

 venture the opinion that there will be higher 

 quotations on some woods before January 1, 

 but all agree that collections are "bum." Whole- 

 salers are keeping an eye to windward for 

 tlie threatened car shortage and they are en- 

 couraging their customers to get in their orders 

 for winter stock early. 



Hardwood specialties arc badly wanted These 

 include locust posts, white oak ties, hickory of 

 all grades, beech piling, maple flooring and ash 

 and elm. Prices for good stocks in these lines 

 are higher than one year ago. Oak is bracing 

 up after a slight decline. Reports show that 

 sound wormy chestnut is going to be a good 

 fall seller at prices even up with last spring's 

 quotations. Most of the mills in West Vir- 

 ginia and Pennsylvania are carrying only fair 

 stocks and some of them have very little dry 

 lumber on hand. 



Buffalo. 



The hardwood lumber trade still leads almost 

 every other wood in activity, as it does in gen- 

 eral stability and satisfactory prices. Scarcity 

 of stocks is no new thing and is to remain right 

 along, but the steady profit is there just the 

 same and there is not the fluctuation in price 

 that exists in southern pine, for instance, and 

 there are not the excessive mill prices that 

 exist in white pine. 



Indianapolis. 



There is considerable uneasiness among hard- 

 wood men just now because of the car shortage 

 which railroad men predict. Until now the 

 service has been exceptionally good, permitting 

 the prompt receipt of lumber and as prompt 

 shipment of the finished product. Business has 

 continued with little interruption throughout the 

 summer. Inquiries for cars are becoming lively 

 and there is more tonnage moving than usual, 

 despite the fact that grain is not moving as 

 rapidly as might be expected. 



The hardwood market continues steady with 

 the demand and supply satisfactory. If the ex- 

 pected car shortage occurs, the market w-ill 

 likely take an upward tendency. 



Cincinnati. 



The hardwood situation during the last two 

 weeks has not shown any change over the previous 

 fortnight, with the exception that quartered oak 

 and poplar have gained a little in demand. Both 

 these woods have been in good request for some 

 time and prices are firm. The demand for quar- 

 tered oak is especially urgent, and sales are 

 made at prices a little above the standard. The 

 demand for white oak has been slow for several 

 weeks, and from present indications will not 

 regain its strength tor some time. There is 

 practically no inquiry for it now, and several 

 dealers have made slight concessions in price. 

 Cypress and mahogany are active and prices are 

 generally conceded steady. Walnut has increased 

 a little in demand, but prices have remained un- 



