HARDWOOD RECORD 



37 



gum and cottonwood continue in steady demand 

 and the market is in excellent sbape. Big deal- 

 ers in poplar report the market strong. OCEerings 

 are selling as fast as put up. Trade the last 

 two weeks has been from domestic sources. Most 

 dealers h.ive enough orders booked to cnrry thorn 

 through until fall 



Chattanooga. 



There has been little cessation in activity in 

 this vicinity since the early spring, the usual 

 dullness at this season not luiving materialized 

 as yet. I.uml)ermen here say that business is 

 better tlian is expected at this season of the 

 year and tiiere is only one thing that is worry- 

 ing them — the problem of dry stocks. 0r.Y stocks 

 are about as scarce as they have been at an.y 

 period within the past year. The river mills are 

 arranging to close down, and some have already 

 suspcn<led business because of the few loggiug 

 tides which have failed to bring down the usual 

 amount of logs this season. There is now, how- 

 ever, a tide on which will bring probably a mil- 

 lion feet of logs. The Emory river is rising and 

 the Tennessee is rising rapidly above Kingston. 

 There is also a rise in tlic Clinrh and I'owcll 

 rivers. 



The demand for oak, poplar and chestnut is 

 strong and prices are holding their own. The 

 lower grades of poplar are-in luiusual demand. 



The export mills are doing a good business, 

 shipping many grades of liardwoods to Great 

 Britain, Germany, Holland, Helgium and Den- 

 mark. Tile local mills furnish Great Britain 

 with a large supply of white poplar. 



Nashville. 



Little clutuge has l)een noted in llie local mar- 

 ket for the past two weeks. A very small supply 

 of low grade poplar is noticed and the better 

 grades are none too plentiful. This wood is now 

 quoted at prices that are higher titan ever 

 known here before. Some improvement is noted 

 In quartered oak. None of the dealers are over- 

 stocked with it, as has been the case in the 

 recent past. Inquiries for plain oak show little 

 It any decrease in spite of the summer season. 

 Prices remain quite tirm. All grades of chest- 

 nut are in strong demand and there is littfe 

 of it to be had. Many of the local lumbermen 

 are now taking their vacations, but good men 

 are left in charge. Building continues brisk and 

 the woodworking and interior tinisliing plants 

 are kfpt iiuite busy as a result. 



Memphis. 



Wliile there is no large amount of business 

 doing liere in hardwoods there is a steady run 

 of inquiries, more than the average for this time 

 of the year. A number of lumbermen are com- 

 menting on the improvement which has taken 

 place during the past two or three weeks. Prices 

 are generally well maintained. Production is 

 making better headway, but there is nothing 

 suggestive of an accumulation of stock that will 

 prove burdensome, especially wlien the present 

 broken condition of holdings is taken into con- 

 sideration. The export business is fairly good, 

 though there is some fear expressed that the 

 unsettled conditions in Russia ma.v again un- 

 favorably affect the export business in hard- 

 wood lumber. 



Ash and cypress arc in excellent rp(|uest. and 

 prices are tirm. Tliere is not mucli of eitlier to 

 be had. wliicb, coupled witit the brisk demand, 

 is respousibit* for the strengtli displayed. 



Plain oak continnes to seli well, with ratlier 

 more strength in white than red. There does 

 not appear to be any great quantity of either for 

 sale. Quarter-sawed white oak in live, six, seven 

 and eight quarter is selling very well, but there 

 is not much demand for other grades or descrip- 

 'tions of qttarter-sawed stock. Quarter-sawed red 

 Is dull in most directions, though some firms 

 are placing a little. 



rottonwood in firsts and seconds is probably 

 not so active as it was a short time ago, and 



prices in some quarters are said to be slightly 

 easier. In box boards, however, there is an ex- 

 cellent demand at very satisfactory prices. The 

 lower grades, which enter largely into box manu- 

 facture, if anything are the strongest feature of 

 ilie cottonwood situation. The call for these 

 grades is exceptionally heavy, with a scarcity of 

 tills class of material reported. 



1!(m1 firsts and seconds gum is in good demand 

 ami prices are steady, while the lower grades are 

 tirm. There is a rapidly increasing demand for 

 low-grade gum in box manufacture and this is 

 largely responsible for the fact that the lower 

 grades are in better shape than the higher. One 

 luillion feet of low grade gum lumber has been 

 sold by a single firm during the past few days, 

 Willie a box manufacturer has placed fifty cars 

 of gtim box shooks. Clear sap gum apjjears to 

 be in only moderate request at unclianged prices. 

 Poplar is a fairly good seller. 



New Orleans. 



Tlie hardwood market here is practically un- 

 changed and no different conditions from those 

 wbicli prevailed two weeks ago obtain today. 

 'I'lie demand is not heavy : exports are light be- 

 cause the European markets are not taking very 

 much stuff and stocks are still short. Within 

 the next sixty days, however, these stocks will 

 be replenished and much better conditions are 

 looked for. 



Rhinelander. 



Trade in ^^■isl^»ustu liardwoods is very fair, 

 much better than it usually is in ,7uly, and all 

 wholesale firms are busy. With the exception 

 of birch, there is no overstock of lumber, nor any- 

 thing even approaching a full supply, and a 

 decided scarcity of rock elm and ash. Basswood 

 is selling well in a wide range of country, though 

 the bulk of it does not go east of Indiana or 

 west of Iowa. The common grades are in the 

 best demand, but firsts and seconds also sell well. 



Birch is moving out about the same as usual, 

 although some of the best customers in the west- 

 ern states seem to be filled up for the present. 

 A new market is opening up for it in Indiana 

 and Ohio, as well as New York, and a good deal 

 of stock is going in that direction. 



Soft elm crating stock is selling well, both for 

 lioxes and for buggy crates. The price on it is 

 strong. In fact, there is not a weak spot in the 

 liardwood line in Wisconsin. The fact is there is 

 not now enough hardwood lumber in Wisconsin 

 to last the trade, at present rate of consump- 

 tion, till new stock is dry next year. 



Louisville. 



.\t present the most active thing in a gener- 

 ally active market seems to be railway cross ties. 

 Car material continues quite active also, and 

 some orders have been booked lately at an ad- 

 vance of $1 over former prices. In poplar the 

 slowest item is No. 1 Common, and this is slow 

 only in comparison with other grades of poplar, 

 liecause there is really nothing slow on the hard- 

 wood list, and especially in poplar. No. 1 Com- 

 mon has been the uncertain factor in poplar so 

 long, however, that there still clings to it a 

 feeling cf more or less uncertainty as to what 

 it is going to do next, and those that have any 

 stock of it are letting it go sparingly and keep- 

 ing on the lookout for stiffer prices. 



\Vhat is attracting most attention in this mar- 

 ket just now, however, is not the price and 

 a<*tive demand for liardwood lumber but tbc 

 scarcity and rapidly advancing value of bard' 

 wood stumpage. At times it seems as if liard- 

 wood stumpage values are going wild, but the 

 more one studies the situation the stronger be- 

 comes the impression that these higher values 

 are not only here to stay but in the course of 

 events will undoubtedly climb higher. 



made to understand that present prices cannot 

 be reduced for some time to come, things would 

 be much better. Shippers are, however, much to 

 blame if they will insist on shipping large lines 

 on consignment ; it only means that prices will 

 have to come down. 



Only recently a steamer brought 4o4 ash 

 logs, none of which had been sold befoi-e arrival, 

 and which are now being hawked about the mar- 

 ket and offered by brokers at prices which can- 

 not realize a profit when freiglit aiul all other 

 charges have been paid. 



This is the kind of thing that enc<iurages con- 

 sumers to hold off from buying, and if shippers 

 will insist on doing these things they must pay 

 tiie consequences. 



For several weeks hickory suffered from the 

 same cause, and to prove that the cause of the 

 weakening of price was the shipping of goods on 

 consignment it is only necessary to point to the 

 position of this wood : prices are back again at 

 the old figures, and if shippers had only obtained 

 orders before shipping there wotiid have been no 

 reason why they should not have obtained full 

 contract prices for the wood they have so ueed- 

 lessly sacrificed. 



Oak, quartered and plain, is still in active re- 

 quest and stocks are low. Walnut is firm and 

 stocks low. 



Other woods remain much as before, with 

 birch and maple slightly better. The recent 

 mahogany sales were well attended and bidding 

 active. Prices were firm and with a distinct 

 tendency to advance. 



Edward Chaloner & Co.'s wood circular of re- 

 cent date states that on oak logs values are 

 steady and stocks only moderate : on wagon 

 jilanks firm prices may be realized if of first- 

 class character — stocks of this description are 

 very light. The import of elm has been fair, 

 with only small consumption and prices un- 

 changed. Of ash there has been a fair import, 

 but only a light consumption ; stocks are ample 

 and prices easier. Walnut logs of good to prime 

 quality and of good average size are in request 

 and obtain full prices : other descriptions sell at 

 moderate rates. Boards and planks of the better 

 grades realize fair prices. Satin walnut sea- 

 soned boards of good quality sell at fair prices. 

 Logs are not in request. For maliogany the de- 

 mand is fair. In the Cuban variety fine figured 

 wood is in good request, and for plain, straight 

 logs of large to medium dimensions there is a 

 steady demand. The logs of these descriptions 

 contained in the shipments offered by auction 

 during the past few months realized satisfac- 

 tory results, but a good proportion of the small- 

 sized wood was withdrawn. Stocks consist of 

 the unsold balances. In Taba.sco wood there is 

 a good demand for sound logs of medium to 

 large dimensions and shipments largely com- 

 posed of this class would sell at good prices. 

 There is almost no stock of this variety. 



Liverpool. 



Trade is considerably brisker with the turn 

 of the half-year, and if only consumers could be 



Xiondon, 



During tlie summer months the market here Is 

 generally slow, but at the present moment buy- 

 ers are declining to face the advanced prices 

 that are asked, the cabinet makers and other 

 lusers of hardwood lumber being in such a bad 

 way that they can hardly afford to pay the old 

 prices for woods, and the talk of higher prices 

 stops business. There has been a failure in this 

 city of one of the lumber dealers located here 

 antl well known in the States. 



Satin walnut medium boards are asked for; 

 there is little demand for prime and not much 

 oft'ering. Oak, plain, IVi, L', 3 and 4 inch planks 

 are iu good demand and fair prices are being 

 paid. Walnut is in good request, but buyers 

 are not meeting sellers' views at the moment. 



Whitewood is in fair demand in all grades : 

 culls are not plentiful and are realizing full 

 prices. Mahogany, the demand is not active, 

 but all wood offered at auction is sold at brokers' 

 liniils and should an increasing demand spring 

 up higlier prices must result. 



