HARDWOOD RECORD 



2Q 



well, cars of this wood being very easy to 

 dispose of in this market. Generally speak- 

 ing, yards are very well supplied owing to 

 recent shipments, while buyers report stocks 

 at mills short, nearly all the local whole- 

 salers making advances to the millmen while 

 cutting. 



Baltimore. 



The hardwood situation has undergone no 

 Important changes during the last two weeks. 

 Demand is active, and prices are ruling high. 

 Most consumers have enough orders in hand 

 to keep them going for an indefinite period, 

 and all calls for lumber are urgent. Oak is 

 eagerly sought, at satisfactory prices. Rail- 

 roads and car builders are buying large quan- 

 tities of lumber. Now that all the mills are 

 running to the limit of their capacity and 

 the roads are In better state, the receipts at 

 points of distribution are expected to attain 

 exceptional volume. 



Poplar is strong. It needed only moderate 

 prices for poplar to get back to its former 

 position, and at the present time it is being 

 used as extensively as ever. Large quantities 

 of it are being shipped abroad, and dealers 

 continue to assert that manufacturers must 

 be making lower prices on this foreign busi- 

 ness than they get at home. Ash is moving 

 freely at firm prices. So far. however, the 

 mills have been unable to make any gains on 

 the consumption, and stocks are not in ex- 

 cess of current requirements. Car builders are 

 also taking large quantities of this wood, 

 which stands second to oak in point of popu- 

 larity. Walnut continues to be demanded tor 

 home consumption as well as for export. The 

 domestic revival in the use of the wood is 

 still in evidence, and lumber and logs of 

 marketable quality find ready takers at ac- 

 ceptable figures. Mahogany and all other 

 hardwoods are holding their own, and the en- 

 tire trade is reported in a prosperous state. 



Pittsburg. 



Of all wholesalers in Pittsburg the men who 

 deal in hardwood lumber have the best reason 

 to feel good these daj's. In the face of severe 

 complaints about a surplus of stock in the 

 local 5'ards and an oversupply of yellow pine 

 the hardwood men are reporting a busy con- 

 dition of affairs all along the line. It is true 

 that local demand is curtailed somewhat by 

 the carpenters' strike, but the falling oft is 

 not at all serious and is more than counter- 

 balanced by the extra orders which hardwood 

 men are getting from outside. Practically 

 every firm in the city reports a brisk outside 

 trade and building statistics show that in the 

 outlying towns the general call for lumber is 

 much better proportionately than in the city 

 proper. Besides, the demand for heavy stock 

 for railroads and manufactories is increasing 

 steadily and is at present making up a good 

 part of the trade. 



For the better grades of hardwood Pitts- 

 burg has never seen a more active market. 

 Most of this stock goes east and to the big 

 furniture towns in the middle west. The con- 

 cerns are reported to be working overtime and 

 the trouble they have had the last two years 

 !n getting sufficient dry stock to run them has 

 taught them to order heavily at the start. 

 Locally the demand is for railroad stuff, ties, 

 poles, timbers, and for house building lumber. 



Hardwood men see by far the best season 

 ever experienced in Pittsburg and prices are 

 all shading a little above list. No official 

 changes have been announced for some time 

 In the lists, but if the present demand con- 

 tinues long, a readjustment, especially in the 

 prices of oak, will be necessary. Collections 

 are reported excellent and less difficulty is re- 

 ported In getting large sums to finance lumber 

 operations than in April and the early part of 

 May, two conditions which are decidedly fa- 

 vorable to hardwood interests. 



Buffalo. 



The hardwood lumber trade is still gaining 

 slowly on pine and is in condition to hold its 

 own against everything else, the only real 

 difficulty being the scantiness of stock. Of 

 course, prices are stronger on that account, 

 though dealers would be glad to see prices 

 much lower if it would mean an easy supply 

 of lumber. Present prices are obtained only 

 because all sorts are hard to get and the de- 

 mand tor it all is good. The only way of 

 keeping in the trade at all is by keeping hard 

 after new stock all over the country. 



There is still some report of chestnut com- 

 ing in from one direction or another, but it 

 is selling strong on account of its not being 

 In full supply and not being likely to be again. 

 I'lain oak is selling strong, for there is nothing 

 to take its place now. Birch, as a substitute 

 tor quartered oak. is a little more plenty, but 

 it is not a wood that is likely to last as oak 

 does, either in supply or in use. so oak must 

 still be the stand-by. 



Some ash is again coming down the lakes, 

 but it is not plentiful enough to depend upon 

 for anything. Dealers are using maple and 

 Washington fir in place of it. The demand 

 for basswood and elm is light, as the con- 

 sumer does not care to pay the prices. Pop- 

 lar is about as scarce and high as any wood 

 and it will command its price unless there is 

 a summer freshet to bring in the left-over 

 logs. 



A hardwood dealer, complaining of the hard 

 work he is having to get oak. says that there 

 is but one thing for the consumer to do and 

 that is to accept lower-grade lumber after 

 this. They think nothing of a knot in the 

 lumber used in England, he says, and we are 

 coming to the same state of things. The story 

 of no supplies in this or that sort of wood 

 cannot last always without meaning some- 

 thing. 



Most of the Buffalo hardwood dealers have 

 been saying all season that they are not keep- 

 ing up stocks, though they seem to manage 

 to keep a good assortment. In fact, the prob- 

 lem of the trade has been for some time how 

 to keep everything in one's line and still carry 

 a steadily lighter stock. One point is to be 

 neighborly, so that when anything is wanted 

 it goes if anybody has it. The ' handling of 

 the entire stock here more and more as one 

 is quite necessary. 



Saginaw Valley. 



The hardwood market is in good condition, 

 and shipments are free. The stock goes out 

 in car lots and some grades are not in suf- 

 ficient supply to meet the requirements of 

 the trade. Ash lumber is particularly firm 

 and active at $27 for No. 2 common and 

 better. Basswood has also been sold up 

 closely, some manufacturers having disposed 

 of their entire output for the season at $23, 

 culls bringing $15. Birch is in more re- 

 stricted supply and is firm at $20 to $22.50. 

 Maple is held at $16 to $18, and some maple 

 timber has been sold at $20. Beech is held 

 at $13 to $14, and there is quite a call for 

 it for the manufacture of pulleys, for screens, 

 and considerable quantities of it go into floor- 

 ing, while the culls are taken by the box 

 makers as a substitute for higher priced pine. 



Grand Bapids. 



There will be no special activity in furni- 

 ture stock until after the furniture sales, 

 which will open June IS in this market. The 

 outlook for business the coming season from 

 the manufacturers' standpoint is first-class. 

 Cull lumber and crating stock of all kinds is 

 in active demand. Plain oak is firm as ever 

 and there are indications that the quartered 

 slock will be strong at advanced prices be- 

 fore the close of the year. 



Indianapolis. 



According to hardwood dealers of Indian- 

 apolis, all grades of hardwoods are holding 

 steady at satisfactoi-y prices. The present 

 outlook seems to indicate a continuance of 

 present conditions. 



On account of the high prices prevailing on 

 building materials, building in Indianapolis has 

 somewhat slackened this spring. Builders, it 

 seems, have been waiting for a decrease In 

 price, and lumber dealers say they will wait 

 in vain. Indeed, it is the opinion of some 

 dealers here that prices are not yet as high 

 IS they will be, many predicting a rise within 

 the next few weeks. Time was when Indiana 

 produced considerable hardwood lumber and 

 ranked well as a producer in this line. Now 

 practically all the hardwood sold here comes 

 from the South. However, according to fig- 

 ures obtained by the forest service on the 

 lumber cut of 1905, only four states — Michigan. 

 Kentucky. Arkansas and Tennessee^exceeded 

 Indiana in the production of hardwood timber 

 and Wisconsin and Indiana were tied. 



Milwaukee. 



Business is exceptionally dull, due in large 

 measure to the high prices obtaining. Buyers 

 are not very anxious to close contracts, but 

 offers at reasonable figures are snapped up 

 by astute firms. Local traders do not expect 

 any change for some weeks and possibly not 

 until Fall. On the whole the volume of sales 

 today is no larger than last February. Lum- 

 ber is very scarce and exceptionally fine lots 

 are held at high prices. A scarcity has made 

 itself felt in choice oak. At the same time 

 building conditions are not on a par with 

 last year's record at the corresponding period. 

 It is generally believed, however, that an 

 improvement in this line will make itself felt 

 shortly, bringing about better conditions in 

 all lines. The John Schroeder Lumber Com- 

 pany reports a growing demand for hardwood 

 flooring. Prices on this commodity are kept 

 at a very low figure in spite of the demand 

 and architects are specifying such floors 

 almost exclusively In all new buildings. 



Asheville. 



Trade continues good. There is an increas- 

 ing demand, while the supply remains short. 

 Chestnut and poplar are the leading woods, 

 with prices for poplar still on the increase. 



Nashville. 



Scarcity of dry stock In hardwoods, good 

 trade, and brisk prices are the characteristics 

 of the Nashville market at this time. What 

 is termed by local lumbermen as an "old 

 time spurt" is noticeable in the poplar trade 

 at present. Two reasons for this are given. 

 To begin with those who have been using 

 substitutes for this wood have found the 

 practice does not pay, and, secondly, it is 

 stated that the prices of the substitutes vary 

 so little from those of poplar itself that the 

 difference is not worth while as poplar is 

 more desirable in the long run. 



The local demand for chestnut and plain 

 oak and ash is most noticeable, and they 

 are selling in the order named. Lumbermen 

 are entirely satisfied with conditions and all 

 are out looking for more timber. 



Memphis. 



It is generally conceded that inquiry for 

 hardwood lumber here is not so active as a 

 short time ago. but the trade Is optimistic as 

 to the future. Large bookings have been 

 made during the past tew months and these 

 will furnish activity for some time, while a 

 steady flow of orders for early shipment will 

 supplement the former bookings. There is a 

 general shortage of dry lumber. The mills 

 are now making better progress In getting out 

 stock than for some months, but this output 



