36 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



stocks exceedingly scarce, with prices bullish. 

 Wholesalers report their ability to sell all they 

 can get. 



Birch is also in fair call with dry stocks small 

 and prices firm. Plain oak has eased off con- 

 siderably and is reported slow. Quartered oak 

 and maple are very quiet and prices are easy, 

 roplar has also lost considerable and prices are 

 a bit shaky. Ash is firm and cypress holding 

 its own. 



Philadelphia. 



riuring the past fortnight mn.st of the whole- 

 salers professed to seeing a slight pick-up in 

 trade an<l a tendency to return to more rapid 

 buying. There has been quite an impetus in the 

 sale of oak, chestnut and poplar, and as these 

 woods are nearly always a barometer of the state 

 of market it can be .safely said that the rosy 

 views of some of the big firms in regard to a 

 quick picking-up in trade are correct. 



The heavy movement that was manifest in 

 cypress some weeks ago is disappearing and al- 

 though there are considerable quantities of the 

 wood being sold the demand is not as great as 

 it was some time ago. 



A satisfactory feature of the local market is 

 that the retailers are all extremely busy. Many 

 have been forced to take on extra wagons and 

 the rapid deliveries which tbe.v are making will 

 soon relieve the congestion under which they 

 have been laboring resulting from the extremely 

 lieavy spring buying. The yards have been buy- 

 ing more during the last fortnight and conditions 

 point to a quick resumption of fairl.v heavy 

 trade in the latter part of August and the first 

 of September. 



Baltimore. 



The hardwood ti'ade continues buoyant. Oak 

 I)lanks do not go forward in sufficient quanti- 

 ties to meet the expectations of the foreign 

 buyers, and the English trade journals have 

 lately fallen to criticizing American exporters 

 for what is represented as bad faith. It is as- 

 serted that the exporters are not shii)ping oak 

 planks in adequate quantities and are ignoring 

 their contracts. It is threatened that if this 

 state of affairs continues British consumers will 

 go to other countries for their oak planks, and 

 then the American exporter will simply be out 

 of business. It may be said, however, that Eng- 

 lish buyers never showed any particular par- 

 tiality for the American exporter and simply 

 bought American oak because it was not oul.v of 

 better grade than European, but, what was 

 equally important, the United States could fur- 

 nish oak enough to meet the British trade re- 

 (luirements. As to holding back shipments be- 

 cause of high prices at home, such is said not 

 to be the case. Exporters are merely unable to 

 get the stock and must wait for deliveries. The 

 absorption at home is large enough to take up 

 the output of the mills, and manufacturers are 

 of necessity slighting the exporters. The Ameri- 

 can railroads are buying large quantities of lum- 

 ber, and this helps to create an exceptional de- 

 mand. 



Other woods, though not exactly scarce, find a 

 ready market and command high prices, the en- 

 tire range of values being very steady, though 

 it must be said that this is the uneventful sea- 

 son in the trade and a feeling of quiet prevails. 

 Poplar is holding its own exceedingly well at the 

 figures quoted some time ago. and chestnut, beech, 

 birch and other woods are also in active request. 



Pittsburg. 



For the midsummer period the hardwood mar- 

 ket shows a remarkably good front. With the 

 break in the carpenters' strike which occurred 

 last week more bills are coming forward to be 

 figured and this week the hardwood firms are 

 busier than for some time. Hardwood trade 

 was, however, held back less by the local strike 

 than the trade in hemlock and the pines, so that 

 the re.sajltant gain in business is not so large 

 proportionately. In general dealers are well 



satisfied with the outlook and expect that the 

 market will show a noticeable improvement by 

 September 1. Building is six weeks behind 

 schedule in this city, and this alone is bound 

 to shove a good part of the hardwood business 

 into the fall and winter months when the struc- 

 tures recently started will be ready for finish. 

 The local yards after a long period of slack buy- 

 iug are beginning to stock up again and will 

 likely be good buyers from this time on. 



Oak continues to lead. The scarcity of the bet- 

 ter grades is very noticeable, as is the demand 

 for bridge timbers and ties. The lower grades 

 are being picked over rapidly and a good part 

 of the stock sold at higher prices than prevailed 

 ,Tune 1. The outlook for a good fall trade in 

 oak is the very best. 



This month the other hardwoods are picking 

 up steadily in the Pittsburg market. Dealers 

 report a very good call for basswood, ash and 

 hickory, most of w'hich will go to the eastern 

 cities and towns. Birch, cherry and maple are 

 also in better call, the buyers being the furniture 

 and manufacturing firms of Indiana, Michigan 

 and Ohio. Chestnut, notably the better grades, 

 is moving a little better and poplar still shows 

 but little signs of weakening in price. The hard- 

 wood mills of western Pennsylvania and Ohio are 

 especially busy this month and find a ready mar- 

 ket for every stick they can cut as fast as it is 

 dry enough to shij). From the big plants in 

 West Virginia and Kentucky local firms are re- 

 ceiving reports that indicate a full run all 

 aroiuid aud no accumulation of stocks. 



Buffalo. 



The demaiul has kept up so well to this time 

 that very little falling off is looked for during 

 the remainder of the warm season. Those who 

 are in touch with the furniture trade are look- 

 ing for liberal fall buying and there is an in- 

 creased use of hardwood lumber in Buffalo. 

 I'rices are strong and there is no complaint of 

 narrow margins on the part of the jobbers. 



Plain oak is going fast, so that some yards 

 report that it is in great part sold before it 

 arrives and needs merely to be assorted before 

 it goes out again. Some dealers still find 

 quartered oak moving rather slow, but that is 

 because it has to be held so much higher than 

 plain and also because there is birch and other 

 woods to take its place at a much lower price. 



There is a generally better feeling in elm and 

 basswood. though some of the trade have not 

 tried to push these woods lately and do not get 

 much out of them. The maple trade is good, 

 with inch taking the lead, though flooring is 

 moving at a very good rate. Prices are firm. 



Detroit. 



The hardwood lumber market in lower Michi- 

 gan has developed nothing new that is of con- 

 sequence during the fortnight. The expected im- 

 provement in the price of thick maple has not as 

 yet appeared, and this class of stock is still in- 

 clined to drag. Inch maple continues to be 

 picked up closely by the flooring manufacturers. 

 The improvement in basswood noted a couple of 

 months ago seems to have worn itself out, and 

 this lumber is decidedly quiet just now. Soft 

 elm continues to be slow, and the small coun- 

 try mills are having quite an effect on the mar- 

 ket. The building boom in Detroit and vicinity 

 continues unabated, and the better end of birch, 

 red oak and other woods used for finishing pur- 

 poses is selling rapidly at good prices. 



Saginaw Valley. 



"The only weak commodity in the entire hard- 

 wood list." said a manufacturer here recently, 

 "is maple." It is purely a matter of overpro- 

 duction, there being more maple lumber manufac- 

 tured than the trade can take care of. It does 

 not affect some firms on this river who con- 

 tracted their entire output early in the year. 

 There should be united effort made to lessen pro- 

 duction until the demand catches up with the 

 supply. 



Beech is siiowing more strength, with a good 

 demand. Birch is in slight demand, although 

 the prices hold up well. Maple is sluggish. Ash 

 is strong : all that is produced in this section 

 of the state 'sells readily. Considerable elm has 

 changed hands during the last ten days. Bass- 

 wood sells readily. 



On the whole every dealer and manufacturer 

 in this section is pleased with hardwood condi- 

 tions and all express the opinion that the fall 

 business will be excellent. 



Indianapolis. 



Because the demand for all kinds of building 

 material continues excellent here hardwood lum- 

 ber is naturally in strong demand. Hardwood 

 dealers throughout the city report a satisfactory 

 trade .so far this year. The carpenters' strike 

 that continued from May 1 to July 1 had a de- 

 pressing effect upon business. This, however, 

 was not sufficient to make things at all dull. 

 Dealers in every line of building stuff say they 

 have never known a season when there was 

 more general building going on than now. Most 

 of it is being done in the city, but in all the 

 small towns there is a great deal, with the ma- 

 terial being purchased from our dealers. To 

 make the situation more gratifying, there is no 

 sign of a let-up in demand. This year promises 

 to be the best the building trade generally has 

 ever known. All of which accounts for the fact 

 that Indianapolis lumbermen are wearing the 

 smiles that wont come off. 



Bristol. 



Business in this section has picked up consid- 

 erably within the past two weeks, and while 

 there is a marked scarcity of several items 

 shipments are heavy and conditions are re- 

 garded by lumbermen as satisfactory. The 

 greatest scarcity of stock is in poplar. The 

 majority of lumbermen say that they cannot 

 secure enough poplar to fill orders. A large 

 amount of poplar and hardwood timber land 

 will be opened up all over this section by the 

 completion of the South & Western Railway, 

 which will extend through eastern Kentucky, 

 southwest Virginia, eastern Tennessee and west- 

 ern N'orth Carolina, and intersect one of the 

 richest timber belts in the South. 



Minneapolis. 



This is normally a dull season iu the north- 

 western hardwood trade. As far as the fac- 

 tory trade is concerned, that holds good, but 

 dealers who cater to retail yard business report 

 a lively demand. All sorts of yard stock are 

 being called for. Oak in good quantities and 

 fair amounts of rock elm and ash are being 

 moved to the retail yards and the small shops 

 and factories scattered over the northwestern 

 slates. Northern oak is on the market, but 

 going fast to this trade. Most of the hardwood 

 is going out in mixed cars. The factories are 

 holding off in their buying till they know for a 

 certainty about the crop returns this tall and 

 can predict fall trade. This does not apply 

 to the sash and door people, who have a great 

 deal of special work on band calling for hard- 

 wood, but are cleaning up old stock and only 

 buying for immediate needs. They know con- 

 siderable hardwood, especially birch, will be nec- 

 essary to fill their orders, but they are in no 

 hurry about buying. There is an abundance of 

 birch in the country and it is not selling very 

 well at present. 



Cincinnati. 



Business is keeping up remarkably well in this 

 market, considering the season. Principal buy- 

 ing interest is centered in plain oak. With dry 

 stocks at a low ebb and no relief iu store for 

 the immediate future, the market has exhibited 

 decided strength. Quarter-sawed white oak is 

 moving fairly well, but red is rather quiet. Ash 

 and cypress are in excellent request and chest- 

 nut occupies nearly as good a position. lied 



