36 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Hardwood Market. 



(By HABDWOOD KECOSD Exclusive Market Sepoxters.) 



1)6 heavy enough to take care 



Chicago. 



There seems to have been a manifest slacken- 

 ing of sales of hardwood in the Chicago market 

 during the past fortnight. Buyers have placed 

 orders all during the year with a good deal of 

 freedom, and nearly every woodworking institu- 

 tion in the city has orders out for stock that 

 when delivered will last them for some time. 

 There is a manifest slowness in getting lumber 

 to destination largely on account of the stock 

 not being dry enough for shipment. There is no 

 diminution in values on any kind of wood, and 

 it is doubtful if a lessened price would increase 

 the volume of sales at the present moment. 

 There simply seems to be a desire on the part of 

 buyers to get stock already bought into th"eir 

 possession before placing additional orders. What 

 activity there is in the market seems to be cen- 

 tered on plain oak. 



Boston. 



A steady improvement is reported in the mar- 

 ket for hardwoods, although in some instances 

 the demand is checked by the recent advances. 

 Furniture manufacturers, especially those making 

 office furniture, are very busy and are constantly 

 in the market. 



The high prices continue to check the call for 

 export. A few dealers report more doing along 

 this line, but the majority still find the demand 

 quiet. 



Plain oak is firmer today than it has been for 

 months, and a fair demand is reported. Offer- 

 ings are small. Quartered oak is also consid- 

 erably firmer than it was. White and brown ash 

 are in small offering and firm in price. Maple 

 flooring has advanced. Opinions differ somewhat 

 regarding the demand. A few wholesalers state 

 that they have a good volume of orders on their 

 books, while others find that the higher prices 

 have checked the call. Whitewood is in much 

 better demand. This is due in part to the ad- 

 vance in cypress and the unsatisfactory condition 

 of the wood offered in this market. The advance 

 in cypress is said to be due to the fact that there 

 is but little dry stock at mill points and that 

 logs are not as plentiful as usual at this season 



of the year. 



New York. 

 A canvass of the district during the past fort- 

 night revealed a marked activity in all branches 

 of the trade. The furniture, interior finish and 

 general manufacturing trades are all running 

 full time and buying is free. While quite a 

 number of the yards are supplied with good 

 stocks, a large proportion of this is sold, but 

 cannot be moved as work is not ready for it, 

 and it is freely admitted that if all the lumber 

 sold by the yards were delivered at once stocks 

 would be by no means normal. The conditions 

 surrounding dry lumber and the output at man- 

 ufacturing points is such as to preclude the pos- 

 sibility of anything but a prolonged bullish 

 market, unless something unforeseen happens. 



The export trade is in fair shape. Maple 

 flooring has gone up .$2 for export during the 

 fortnight. Conditions in the foreign markets at 

 the present time do not seem to be conducive to 

 a very large trade. 



The local demand for hardwoods is pretty 

 general with the possible exception of quartered 

 oak and maple, although it is admitted that the 

 former has shown some tendency toward revival 

 during the past thirty days. Plain oak, ash. 

 chestnut, birch and poplar are all in good call, 

 with prices firm and stocks only nominal. The 

 call is for the better grades, and offerings of 

 stock in fair shipping condition are rapidly ab- 

 sorbed. 



flcmand seems to 

 of all the lumber that is coming into the market. 

 Trade in chestnut is brisk, and good stocks are 

 short. This is particularly true of sound wormy 

 chestnut, for which there is a nice demand. 

 There is a good call for poplar, the quotations 

 in this wood on firsts and seconds being higher 

 than ever and the scarcity of dry stocks is no- 

 ticeable. 



Quartered white oak in firsts and seconds is 

 drawing well, while inch plain oak and two-inch ' 

 plain oak is a little weak at the present time, 

 lied oak, however, is holding its own, and thick 

 oak. five and six quarter, is scarce, as is also 

 good ash. 



The scarcity of dry stocks, and particularly 

 poplar, is general, and buyers returning from 

 the South report the same conditions prevalent 

 there. Some of the heaviest dealers in the local 

 market report their line of seasoned stock fairly 

 good, but not equal to what they would desire. 

 Some of the largest lumber houses are of the 

 opinion that the market ought to be better than 

 it Ik and attribute the present conditions to the 

 stringency of money in local circles. The whole 

 trade, however, looks forward to a continuation 

 of good conditions throughout the summer, with 

 a probable increase as the building operations 

 get fairly under way. 



This has caused a noticeable lull in the local 

 trade, but as soon as the ground is dry things 

 are bound to look brighter, for the volume of 

 building started gives assurance of a brisk call 

 for all kinds of lumber. 



Outside of this purely local feature trade has 

 been good in hardwoods. For the last two weeks 

 the inquiry from railroads and street railways 

 has been quite satisfactory. Ties, poles and 

 bridge timbers are in excellent demand and are 

 bringing, in some cases, fancy prices. There is 

 little doubt that the market for heavy hardwood 

 sticks will be better in Pittsburg this year than 

 last. 



Prices remain exceptionally firm. The scarcity 

 of good oak keeps that wood at top list. Chest- 

 nut is selling well as a substitute for oak and 

 the prices which contractors, especially in tlie 

 coke regions, are willing to pay are surprising. 

 Maple flooring continues on the same base. Ko 

 change is noted in the price of minor hardwoods, 

 and a fine string of small orders is being booked 

 by local firms to be delivered to the manufac- 

 turers at an early date. 



Philadelphia. 



The hardwood market coutiuues good and is 

 improving steadily, and the opinion among the 

 trade is that it will continue to do so. The this season 



. Baltimore. 



The hardwood situation here has lest none of 

 its buoyant character. All the woods in general 

 use continue to be in active demand, and the 

 mills have enough orders on hand to keep them 

 running for months to come. One difficulty 

 which has hindered the trade — the bad roads — 

 has been obviated by good weather, so that a 

 marked increase in the receipts at the various 

 points of distribution may be looked for. Some 

 dealers think that this will cause a sagging off 

 in values, but the preponderance ct opinion is 

 that the demand wull keep pace and values will 

 remain firm. 



OaJs leads in point of activity, bringing high 

 prices and finding ready takers where the quality 

 is at all acceptable. Even the common grades 

 have shown much strength of late. The furni- 

 ture manufacturers and other consumers are 

 buying freely and orders are being placed ahead, 

 though six months seems to be about the 'limit. 

 The foreign business, while in the main quiet, 

 shows slight improvement. Stocks abroad seem 

 to have run fairly low. They are hav- 

 ing strong competitors in the car" build- 

 ers here, who arc taking large quantities «.t 

 oak and whose requirements as to quality are 

 ciuuparatively low. These concerns have orders 

 for many thousands of cars, and they are buying 

 up all the oak they can get, together with such 

 other woods as they use in the work of con- 

 struction. The enormous orders for rolling stock 

 placed by American railroads is one of the most 

 important factors in the lumber trade and help 

 to keep the market at tcp-notch figures, .^sh is 

 also in good request at prices that compare 

 favorably with oak. This trade, likewise, gives 

 every promise of continuance. Walnut seems to 

 retain its popularity among domestic buyers, 

 while mahogany and other hardwoods are all 

 doing well both as to value and volume of move 



ment. 



PittsTJurg. 

 From we-stern I'ennsylvania. West Virginia, 

 eastern Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, where 

 are located the hardwood mills that supply Pitts- 

 burg wholesalers, there has come the wail the 

 last six weeks that the roads were practically 

 impassable. Stocks of good hardwood have been 

 hard to get. As a result, the local yards have 

 now more lumber on hand than for five years at 

 and are buying accordingly slow. 



Buffalo. 



It still appears that the hardwood lumber 

 trade is gaining. There is no complaint that 

 the hardwoods are not moving, for even the slow- 

 est of them are now doing fairly well. The de- 

 mand for chestnut and plain oak is very active. 

 A white pine dealer, lately on a tour of the 

 door mills of the southern-tier cities of the 

 state, found that they were all doing much more 

 in hardwoods than formerly. Not many years 

 ago they were big buyers in this market of a 

 grade of white pine that would work up into 

 doors, but the tendency now is to use a great 

 amount of the various hardwoods instead. 



The changes in hardwood lumber of late are 

 a greater scarcity of chestnut, ash and plain oak, 

 the better movement of quartered oak, the activ- 

 ity of maple at better prices, the strength of 

 the poplar market and the slow return to activity 

 of elm and basswood. Reports from the south- 

 ern oak districts are that logging is slow and 

 much behind because of bad weather. Logs are 

 high and the demand for anything that will 

 make fairly good lumber is great. 



There is not much change in the outlook in 

 this district in a personal way. Everybody ap- 

 pears to be prosperous and satisfied. There is 

 no boom in anything, but all is in a satisfactory 

 condition. 



Cincinnati. 



The market continues in satisfactory shape. 

 The demand has been good and while dry stocks 

 have increased perceptibly, values continue firm. 

 Plain oak maintained its position as the market 

 leader. 



Bristol, Va.-Tenn. 



Trade conditMuis in the Bristol district remain 

 in a satisfactory condition. The tendency of 

 the market seems to be toward higher prices and 

 a still better demand, although the demand has 

 been so great within the past few weeks that the 

 mills are running behind and some of them work- 

 ing overtime, and even with this there is still a 

 considerable scarcity of almost all kinds of stock. 

 Since the roads have dried sufliciently hauling to 

 the railroads has been begun and is progressing. 

 When the stock is all hauled from the country 

 mills to the railroads and placed on the market 

 the supply from this section will be much larger. 



Local exporters declare the foreign markets 

 are much improved and values are becoming firm- 

 er. They have a great deal of faith in the for- 

 eign markets, and are not confining themselves 

 to conservative limits in making contracts for 

 future delivery. Liverpool. London and Glasgow^ 

 concerns have tied up several prominent local 

 dealers in big contracts for months to come. 



Saginaw Valley. 



Hardwood lumber is moving fairly well and 

 prices are firm and well sustained. For No. 2 



