28 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Plain oak is holding stiff on light supplies 

 and good demands. Quartered oak. while 

 showing some improvement, is still not en- 

 joying the activity or value which it should. 

 There seems to be more than enough stock 

 for current wants, and while there are not 

 very many concessions being made, prices are 

 not on the level which they should be. 

 Poplar is enjoying a good call and stocks are 

 ample for current wants. Low grade stock 

 is more active possibly than the better grades 

 and is particularly so in the manufacturing 

 trade. Prices ai-e holding firm and the mar- 

 ket is in good shape. Chestnut is active and 

 the better grades are scarce owing to the 

 natural production of more of the lower grade 

 stock than of firsts and seconds. The low 

 grades, however, are holding firm and better 

 grades are very stiff in price. Ash is in good 

 call, stocks are scarce and prices firm. There 

 is sufficient maple for all current wants and 

 prices are easy. Gum is having a fair call, 

 and beech is being called for freely, particu- 

 larly for temporary construction work and 



special lines. ^ 



Philadelphia. 



D-uring the last two weeks there has been 

 considerable quartered oak and poplar coming 

 into the market. Birch has been moving well, 

 and there has been a good demand tor thick 

 oak. Ash has also been In request, and some 

 of the big retail yards have been handling a 

 good bit of cypress. 



The concerns that deal in railroad ties, posts, 

 etc., find business extremely good. Most of 

 them in Philadelphia are going into the man- 

 ufacturing end of the business more and more, 

 finding that their ends can be best attained if 

 they manufacture their own stock, although they 

 are all in the market for a certain amount of 

 made-up stult. One of the best proofs of their 

 prosperity is the fact that they are enlarging 

 their holdings of timber lauds and erecting 

 mills. 



Among the wholesalers in general there is a 

 feeling of dullness, which, however, is not alarm- 

 ing, as a slow season is expected at this time 

 of the year. A good season is predicted by 

 the biggest firms who find that the orders from 

 the retail yards are increasing slightly over 

 those of the previous fortnight. 



Baltimore. 



While certain aspects of the lumber trade 

 here tend to create an impression of quiet, 

 stocks are moving in fair ciuantities and the 

 business generally is in good shape. Stocks 

 are arriving with some freedom. The dis- 

 tribution in the East does not at present 

 compare with the demand in the Middle West, 

 but the range of prices is quite as high as 

 it has been for nearly all kinds of lumber. 

 As was to be expected, oak planks continue 

 to head the list, being eagerly sought. No 

 advance in the list has taken place of late, 

 but the quotations are steady. 



The exporters report the foreign situation 

 rather quiet, but this is always the case 

 during the heated period. The export de- 

 mand for oak planks is fair, and stocks are 

 being moved in liberal quantities. Recently 

 the belief gained some currency that values 

 here would not be maintained, and this 

 tended to make the European buyers hesitate 

 In the hope that prices would ease off. They 

 realize by this time, however, that such ex- 

 pectations are not likely to be borne out and 

 stocks are being taken once more with some- 

 what greater freedom. 



The domestic market is being aided by the 

 railroads and car building concerns, which are 

 making large requirements. The shortage of 

 labor in the sawmills is another factor that 

 tends to make buyers eager to place orders 

 and serves to keep up the lists. Ash is a 

 strong second to oak, being in good request 

 both here and abroad, and bringing prices 

 that stimulate production. Walnut remains 



in favor among a certain class of domestic 

 buyers, while the foreign trade is always 

 ready to take desirable stocks. Values are 

 well sustained. Chestnut, beech, hickory and 

 other hardwoods all move freely at satisfac- 

 tory figures. Poplar has not lost any of Its 

 strength, being called for in quantities at 

 home as well as in foreign countries. The 

 range of prices is proportionately higher here 

 than on the other side of the Atlantic, and 

 reports are frequent that manufacturers, ship- 

 ping direct, make sacrifices in order to pre- 

 vent accumulations here. Some of the ex- 

 porters criticise this policy as short-sighted 

 because, they say, the exporter is thus in a 

 measure shut out of the foreign market be- 

 cause the prices he must pay do not permit 

 him to compete with the direct shipping man- 

 ufacturer. The exporter, therefore, does not 

 buy lumber, so that In the end the total 

 of the shipments is no larger than it would 

 be if the export business were done entirely 

 by those engaged therein. 



Pittsburg. 



The hardwood market in Greater Pittsburg 

 maintains a buoyancy that Is almost unac- 

 countable in view of the adverse conditions 

 that have greatly reduced the volume of trade 

 in other lines of lumber. Reports from the 

 largest hardwood firms for .Tune Indicate that it 

 was one of the best months they have had for 

 years. Unlike other woods in this market hard- 

 woods are not accumulating to any great ex- 

 tent in the local yards and retailers who 

 have not given an order for pine for weeks 

 are buying freely of the hardwoods at better 

 prices than prevailed May 1. This month gives 

 promise of being an exceptionally active mid- 

 summer period and dealers are looking forward 

 to a busy summer. 



The carpenters' strike, which has been on 

 since May 1 and which involved about 1,700 

 workmen, has been the one great drawback to 

 the sales of all kinds of lumber. The planing 

 mills of Allegheny county, which have been 

 practically idle for six weeks, are making a 

 determined effort to start this week on the 

 open shop plan and at the old wages of $3.50 

 per day of eight hours. Mill owners have re- 

 ceived enough applications from carpenters in 

 nearby small towns, where wages are about 

 half the Pittsburg rate, to give them consider- 

 able assurance that they can man most of the 

 mills with outside help if necessary. Unless 

 this Is done with comparatively little trouble 

 it will result in some of the mills going out of 

 business, for they have been running on a very 

 low margin of profit for months, owing to the 

 fact that the outside mills are coming Into 

 active competition with them in stocking this 

 market. 



Oak is in the best demand since 1901. From 

 heavy timbers for bridge work and river con- 

 tracts to the finest grades of finishing lumber, 

 everything Is selling well. Prices are shading 

 upward. 



Other hardwoods are favored with a fine in- 

 quiry. Maple flooring is one of the best notes 

 in the budget at present and prices are firm. 

 Low-grade chestnut is again a leader in the 

 market and stocks are reported only fair. 

 Considerable beech and maple are being sold 

 as substitutes for oak in river construction 

 false work- Last month the call from the fur- 

 niture dealers for birch, ash, maple and cherry 

 was largely increased. Salesmen who travel 

 Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, as well as those 

 who visit the large cities in the East, report 

 conditions generally very favorable to the 

 hardwood trade and prices right and collec- 

 tions above the average. 



reporting the sale of grades and cuts that they 

 had not considered at all fast sellers. It is 

 true that the better supply of birch has made 

 it easier to keep a stock of oak on hand. The 

 consumer has found that he can give white, or 

 sap, birch a fine mahogany stain and that is all 

 he wants to know. So birch, which now runs 

 so largely to white, is all right, even It it is 

 rather plentiful. 



It does not appear that the effort to keep up 

 a stock of white ash is to succeed, for the sup- 

 ply has suddenly given out all along the line. 

 Not only maple, but Washington fir is being 

 offered in Its place and seem to answer the pur- 

 pose. 



There is no report of an increased poplar sup- 

 ply, though Canadian lumbermen are getting 

 water enough this summer to float their logs, 

 which w^ere mainly stranded early in the season. 

 Poplar is scarce and high. 



There is a good sale of maple and oak floor- 

 ing. In fact, all the mills in the city are run- 

 ning strong on account of the activity in build- 

 ing. 



Detroit. 



Market conditions in southern Michigan show- 

 very little change. Birch is still inclined to be 

 quiet, w-hile basswood is considerably stronger. 

 The stiff advance in gum has greatly helped 

 basswood in this section. Maple continues to 

 be picked up closely, and the mills are cutting 

 practically nothing but 4-4 and 5-4, avoiding 

 the thicker stock, which has been a drug on 

 the market for the past year. 



Factories are all very busy, and the con- 

 suming demand seems fully up to the normal, 

 though there is no evidence of a desire to buy 

 verv far ahead of actual needs. 



Saginaw Valley, 



Trading in hardwood lumber is guod for this 

 .season of the year. Prices are better than a 

 year ago and the conviction is there will be 

 an advance before the season closes, as the 

 prices In pine and hemlock are out of propor- 

 tion to those of hardwood. Manufacturers state 

 that there is no surplus of dry stock, but lum- 

 ber cut in the winter and early spring will 

 soon come on the market. 



There is more ash being picked up this year 

 than usual and it is a good seller at firm 

 prices. Basswood is also doing well, with a 

 demand particularly for culls for box shocks. 

 Considerable quantities of elm will be manu- 

 factured this season. Birch is not so plentiful, 

 yet lots of a few hundred thousand each are 

 picked up here and there. There is maple in 

 sufficient supply. A number of million feet of 

 maple timber is being manufactured at Bay 

 City and at An Sable for government use in 

 harbor work and for bridges and large build- 

 ings. 



Maple flooring is also doing better than usual. 

 A large portion of the output here goes abroad. 

 No labor troubles have interfered with opera- 

 tions this .season. Not only local mills, but 

 those along the lines of road and on the Lake 

 Huron shore are busy and the output will be 

 about equal to that of last year. 



BufTaJo. 



HarJwood trade here is reported fair, with 

 prices firm. Stocks are fairly good, with the ex- 

 ception of chestnut and ash, which are not to 

 be kept in full assortment henceforward. 



There Is a good call for oak, some dealers 



Milwaukee. 



Market conditions have assumed a firmer tone 

 within the last few weeks. The demand for 

 stock has shown a perceptible increase and 

 buyers appear more anxious to place orders. 

 This condition is making itself especially felt 

 in southern woods, but northern woods are 

 being affected sympathetically. Dealers expect a 

 still more healthy situation within the next few 

 weeks, as indications all point to a reaction 

 from the abnormally poor condition since last 

 February. Prices under the cinumstances re- 

 main firm and will continue without fluctu- 

 ation. 



Bristol, Va.-Tenn. 



The lumbermen in this city and section seem 

 to be very busy, and the cry of scarcity of stock 



