HARDWOOD RECORD 



59 



Oak is decidedly in the lead. There is prac- 

 tically no dry oak on the market and the little 

 that is available is chased hard, resulting in 

 prices above list being paid. For heavy oak 

 timbers there is going to be a splendid demand 

 all summer, as well as for ties, planking and in- 

 terior Suish. Ohio and western Pennsylvania 

 are being scoured by local firms for small tracts 

 of oak where portable mills can be put in to 

 advantage. 



Chestnut continues to be an active seller. It 

 is being substituted by many contractors for 

 hemlock at slightly lower prices. There is no 

 surplus of stock and prices are very firm at 

 quotations. Maple is selling well, and beech 

 is coming into market in larger quantities than 

 for many months. The manufactories of Ohio 

 and the East are taking considerable quantities 

 of the minor hardwoods, ash, birch, cherry and 

 hickory, at good prices. 



The danger of any serious disturbance in the 

 labor market has passed. About 500 carpenters 

 are out, but the majority of the contractors will 

 pay the $i a day asked. With the coming of 

 good weather a great deal of house building has 

 been projected, and this with the large number 

 of business structures going up will insure a 

 splendid market for the best grades of hardwood 

 all summer. 



Buffalo. 



The hardwood trade is quite satisfactory as 

 to sales, but dealers are troubled over the low- 

 ness of stocks. This means that while sales 

 have increased steadily all the year, it has not 

 been possible to get enough new lumber to replace 

 shipments. If the present drain continues, there 

 will not be even a fair assortment of stock in 

 most local yards in two months. The plan of 

 shipping to customers from buying points direct 

 is adopted wherever possible, the idea being 

 to keep a good all-around lot in yard to meet 

 hurry orders and save freight by the direct plan. 



The Southwest has turned out less lumber 

 this year than usual, so that the special short- 

 age of oak, poplar and ash is to some extent 

 accounted for, but there seems to be no hope of 

 much recovery in chestnut, and some dealers 

 appear to have about given up searching for it, 

 saying it cannot be found except in chance lots. 

 This makes plain oak scarce and is drawing on 

 quartered more and more. 



Maple has been used for ash till it is running 

 short, in spite of the big overstock of it last 

 year. Birch keeps up fairly well and is a good 

 seller always. White ash continues short of the 

 demand, and poplar is going out of sight in 

 price, at least so far as this market is con- 

 cerned. If basswood does not pick up soon it 

 will be strange, for it has been neglected so 

 long that the excessive price that spoiled the 

 trade no longer holds. 



Dealers are making an extra effort to keep tip 

 stocks, and are covering a much wider territory 

 than ever before to do so. It is likely that dur- 

 ing the midsummer lull the effort will produce 

 good results, especially if the Southwest dries 

 up and logging Is easy again. 



Saginaw. 



Lumber is moving fairly well, the active 

 season in manufacturing and selling now be- 

 ing on. The market is firm with no special 

 features of interest. Some local dealers han- 

 dle a lot of southern oak and chestnut from 

 the point of manufacture direct to the cus- 

 tomer without bringing it here. A consider- 

 able quantity of hardwood stuff is also bought 

 by Saginaw valley dealers from hardwood 

 manufacturers along the lines of railroad in 

 the northern part of the state and while a 

 portion is brought to the yards here much of 

 it is sold and shipped direct to the consumer 

 from the mill. It is estimated that over 100,- 

 000.000 feet of hardwood stocks is handled by 

 dealers here every year, only about one-half 

 of which is manufactured in this district. 



About 500,000 feet of beech was recently 

 sold to concerns for screen doors, flooring and 

 pulleys. iS'o. 2 common and better is held 

 here at $13 and $14. Elm is doing better than 

 it did last year and No. 2 common and better 

 is quoted at $22 to $26. Basswood is firm at 

 $23 and $15 for culls, birch is doing nicely at 

 .$20 to $25.50, ash is scarce and firm at $27, and 

 maple is in good demand at $16 and $1S. 



Grand Rapids. 



Most of the hardwood dealers in this city 

 report business good. Maple is moving better 

 and thick stock is looking up. Elm is showing 

 improvement, Willi prices liolding well. Ash, 

 black and white, are in good demand. The 

 basswood situation is improving. Birch con- 

 tinues a little slow. 



Milwaukee. 



Market conditions remain unchanged. In a 

 few instances carpenters liave gone out on 

 strike because contractors refused to recognize 

 the union, which has caused a cessation of build- 

 ing, but it is thought this will be of short dura- 

 tion and building will be resumed with renewed 

 vigor, so that the market will not be affected by 

 it to any great extent. As an indication of ob- 

 taining prosperity, the contract to furnish lum- 

 ber to the city of Milwaukee recently made by 

 the John Schroeder Lumber Company will serve 

 as an example. That company this year will 

 receive an advance of $2 a thousand on all kinds 

 of lumber except white oak, which shows a re- 

 duction of $1. The demand for ail hardwoods 

 is active, and the situation generally is satis- 

 factory. 



Bristol, Va.-Tenn. 



Hardwood conditions in this section are ex- 

 cellent. Mills are going up everywhere. East- 

 ern lumbermen are starting sawmills and lumber 

 manufacturing industries, evidently having great 

 faith in this section. The increase in volume 

 of business in the Bristol district this year has 

 been phenomenal. Prices are quite satisfactory, 

 though lumbermen are looking for even better 

 prices within a few weeks. The demand is 

 heavy, and the majority of the mills are unable 

 to supply their trade. 



Stocks in the yards are low, nor is there much 

 chance of replenishing, as lumber is being 

 shipped out as rapidly as it is unloaded. 



Cincinnati. 



The scarcity of dry lumber is more acute in 

 this market at present than perhaps at any 

 time this year. The belief is also general that 

 it will be some time before this condition is 

 alleviated and for that reason consumers have 

 been buying available lots with great rapidity. 

 So far as prices are concerned the market is in 

 fine shape. Plain oak has sold freely and ad- 

 vanced prices are being obtained. Quarter- 

 sawed white and red oak have moved into con- 

 sumption at a steady pace and at satisfactory 

 figures. .\sh is particularly .scarce and rules 

 strong under an urgent call. Cypress, hickory 

 and chestnut have been in good request. Cotton- 

 wood firsts and seconds and red gum are active 

 and selling high. Poplar has met with a spirited 

 demand and with low stocks quotations are 

 stiffening gradually. 



The labor situation is all right. Several hun- 

 dred planing mill hands struck on May 1 for 

 increased wages, but this controversy was quickly 

 settled. Weather conditions are favorable and 

 many new buildings have been started. 



Chattanooga. 



The universal cry among local lumbermen is 

 for dry stocks. The situation is a little easier 

 than it was a month ago, however, which is 

 probably due to the favorable weather of the 

 past few weeks. 



Plain oak and chestnut are still the leaders. 

 Quartered oak in Nos. 1, 2 and 3 is not moving 

 as freely as might be desired. In poplar there 

 are on the market only the lower grades, the 



higher grades being almost entirely .sold out. 



The mills of this city will not have the log 

 supply this year that they had last. Since De- 

 cember 1 about twelve million feet of timber, 

 about half of which has come by river, has been 

 received. Prices hold their own : in fact, are 

 on the increase. There is a great demand here 

 for railroad ties, and this timber is becoming 

 scarce and prices are steadily advancing. Chest- 

 nut is being used almost exclusively in the manu- 

 facture of coflins and caskets, and the supply 

 is not equal to the demand as Chattanooga is 

 now becoming a cofiin and casket manufactur- 

 ing center of importance. Poplar is much used 

 in the manufacture of buggies, carriages, pianos, 

 etc. Walnut is about out of the market and 

 the little that can be had is readily taken by 

 sewing machine manufacturers. 



St. Louis. 

 Trade in hardwood in St. Louis is brisk. 

 Stocks of dry lumber are probably lower than 

 for years and receipts are considerably below 

 average. The upper grades of poplar and plain 

 oak are exceptionally short. For the past two 

 months two of the large shipping yards here 

 have refused to sell inch plain oak in straight 

 carload lots. The upper grades of poplar have 

 advanced in this market during the past two 

 weeks. There is no indication of anything but 

 a continuance of firm prices all along the line. 

 The reports from the South are that stocks are 

 very low in the hands of millmen, and weather 

 conditions are still against a normal output. 



Nashville. 



Nashville lumbermen report an exceptional 

 run of business for the months of March and 

 April. 1906. Many of them report that they 

 did 100 per cent more business during these 

 months than for the corresponding months of 

 last year. Prices are steady with an upward 

 tendency. The interior finishing plants in this 

 section are rushed, and as a result the dry 

 stock in both plain and quartered white oak 

 is being cleaned up. There have been heavy 

 purchases of chestnut recently for eastern 

 concerns, and the market is practically bare 

 of that wood. Ash of all grades is in big de- 

 mand. Hickory is very scarce and poplar dry 

 stock is almost out of the market. There is 

 none of the higher grades to be found. Orders 

 and inquiries continue lively, and the Nash- 

 ville lumbermen are certainly getting their 

 share in the business that is doing. 



Memphis. 



There is a continued good demand for hard- 

 wood lumber and conditions are quite healthy. 

 Tliere is no appreciable increase in the offer- 

 ings ; in fact, if there is any change at all it 

 is in the direction of decrease. The domestic 

 demand is exceptionally good, while there is 

 not a little export business doing here owing 

 to the excellent prices offered _from the other 

 side of the water for southern hardwoods. 

 I'rices are quite firm, with every assurance of 

 remaining so for some time. 



Ash and cypress are both in limited supply, 

 with an exceptional call for both. The mills 

 are doing all they can to meet requirements, 

 but the most acute scarcity is in lumber for 

 immediate shipment, with the result that lum- 

 lier now being put on sticks has very little bear- 

 ing on the situation. It is easy to book future- 

 delivery orders for either ash or cypress, but in 

 view of their scarcity manufacturers are some- 

 what slow about so doing. 



Cottonwood is working into still stronger po- 

 sition and the cost of getting out timber, of 

 manufacture, and the scarcity of both raw ma- 

 terial and the sawn product, is responsible for 

 the advancing tendency displayed by prices. 

 Box boards are very scarce, as are also wide 

 and narrow firsts and seconds and box common. 

 Most manufacturers are in the market for these 

 grades instead of having anything to offer. 



There is a growing demand for gum and a 

 nice volume of business therein. Firsts and 



