Published In the Interest of Hardwood Lumber, American Hardwood Forests, Wood Veneer Industry* Hardw^ood Flooring, 

 Hardwood Interior Finish. Wood Chemicals. Saiv Mill and Wood^^orKing Machinery. 



Vol. XXII. 



CHICAGO. SEPTEMBER 25. 1906. 



No. 11. 



Published on the lOth and 25th of each month by 



THE HARDWOOD COMPANY 



Henry H. Gibson, President 



Frank W. TUTTLE. Sec-Treas. 



OFFICES 

 Sixin Floor Ellsworth Bldg., 355 Dearborn Stn Chicago. III., U.S.A. 



Telephones: Harrison 4960 Automatic 5659 



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The entire contents of this publication are covered by the general copy 

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 Entered at Chicago Postoffice as Second Class Matter. 



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 publication date. Advertising rates on application. 



COMING HARDWOOD ASSOCIATION MEETINGS 

 Hardwood Manufacturers' Association 



A district meeting of this association is scheduled to be 

 held at Cape Girardeau, Mo., Tuesday, October 9. 



National Hardwood Lumber Association 



A seini-annual meeting of this association will be held 

 at Hotel Havlin, Cincinnati, on Thursday and Friday, 

 October 25 and 26. 



General Market Conditions. 



General reports from all over the country indicate that the hard- 

 vrood trade is entering on a season of prosperity that will fully equal 

 any of late years. The lack of confidence in the prices ruling during 

 tlie summer, which had a tendency to prevent buying in some parts of 

 the country, has apparently given way to a belief that prices will 

 remain firm for an indefinite period, and the buying consequent on 

 this state of affairs has given a decided impetus to the market. 



The demand for plain oak continues to be strong in all grades, and 

 there seems to be no difficulty in disposing of what stocks there are 

 on hand. Quartered oak seems to be in better shape than it was 

 some time ago, reports from most hardwood centers showing it to 

 have picked up considerably. The veneer and panel business is firm 

 in nearly all markets, good prices and stiff demand prevailing. Ash 

 and hickory continue to be snapped up whenever possible. 



The oak and maple flooring business continues very active. The 

 unusually heavy building operations during the summer and the num- 

 ber of Iniildings of the better class that are now in condition to take 

 flooring stock will continue to render the market steady for a long 

 time to come. 



From a review of the conditions prevailing in other lines of 

 business it may be said that the hardwood trade is receiving its share 

 of the general prosperity. 



New Uses for Woods. 



There is a (Constant effort to broaden the uses to which various 

 kinds of woods can be placed. Many products of the forest that 

 were regarded as valueless until within the past few years have 

 now become standard commodities. Twenty years ago maple was 

 regarded as either an incumbrance or useful only for fire-wood. 

 Today it has become the standard flooring material throughout a 

 very largo portion of the United States and abroad, being used 

 in many of the highest class structures, as well as for wagon and 

 agricultural machinery building, etc. Hemlock, a wood despised 

 for years as being practically worthless, is a standard building ma- 

 terial today. Red gum, but very recently introduced as lumber, 

 was unsalable up to within the last five years. Now the broad- 

 ened demand is so active that many grades of it show a shortage 

 in the market. The despised tupelo gum has recently become a 

 valuable commercial product, with every prospect that within a few 

 years it will be so appreciated as to command as much money as 

 cypress does today. 



It is the constant study of users of wood to find cheaper substi- 

 tutes for certain standard commodities, by means of which they can 

 turn out their manufactured product at a diminished cost. Some 

 manufacturers have succeeded in substituting other wood for oak. 

 Chestnut and red gum have been the principal kinds used for this 

 substitution. Yellow pine and poplar have largely taken the place 

 of white pine, and now Pacific coast woods are substituting the 

 pines and hemlock. Box makers who formerly used soft woods 

 exclusively have recently learned that they can employ gum, cotton- 

 wood and a large variety of other hardwoods advantageously. Sub- 

 stitution is going on constantly, and probably will continue to the 

 end of time. 



The tamarack of the North has been a despised wood in the past 

 few years in spite of its strength and lasting qualities, and has 

 even been rejected as a building material. It has been but recently 

 discovered that tamarack makes a most excellent material for tanks, 

 and for this purpose it is coming into quite general use at much 

 higher prices than it ever would have brought in the form of joists 

 and scantling. 



Experiments are now being made with maple for car decking. It 

 is strange that this trial was never given the wood before, for it 

 certainly will prove an ideal material for this purpose. It will rot 

 no quicker than yellow pine, Norway ot fir, and will stand ten times 

 as much wet and rough usage as any of the woods named. Both 

 northern and southern hardwood manufacturers are creating a con- 

 siderable demand of late for the coarse end of their hardwood prod- 

 ucts for sheathing purposes, and some of the woods are being quite 

 generally used in the form of ship lap and bevel siding with good 

 results. 



There is a crying need for a substitute for hickory in the wagon 

 and carriage making trade. It seems scarcely possible that any con- 

 siderable quantity of undiscovered wood suitable for this purpose 

 will ever be located in the United States, but it is logical to prophesy 

 that a vast quantity of material excellent for this purpose can be 

 secured in Mexico, the West Indies and the northern portion of 

 South America. The forests of these countries are all rich in minor 

 hardwoods of very dense character, which are tough and not subject 

 to speedy decay. Undoubtedly the wagon maker who wants to per- 

 petuate a source of supply should cast his eyes in the direction 

 noted. 



