154 AMERICAN LUMBER IN FOREIGN MARKETS. 



districts. Most of the timber comes from Boehmerwald, which is in 

 southwestern Bohemia, and the remainder from the mountain regions in 

 the northeast and narthwest of Bohemia. It is brought down on the riv- 

 ers Elbe and Moldau and their tributaries. Bohemia exports considera- 

 ble timber to Dresden, Leipsic, and Magdeburg, and certain quantities of 

 logs are yearly sent to Hamburg for shipbuilding. A good deal of the 

 lumber goes to Austria proper, and to southern Germany, mainly to 

 Nuremberg and Mayence. The transmission of timber and logs to 

 Germany is done on the river Elbe, except that to south Germany, 

 which is forwarded by railway. 



Some lumber is brought into Bohemia from Galicia, which import is 

 explained as follows: A number of Bohemian capitalists own large 

 tracts of timber land, with sawmills thereon, in Galicia, and the demand 

 for lumber there is very limited, consequently it is forwarded to Bohe- 

 mia, where it finds a ready market and better prices. 



Then again, the Galician Government sells yearly at public auction 

 certain lots of standing timber with the proviso that it must be manufac- 

 tured into lumber in that country. Such lots of timber are generally 

 purchased by Bohemian dealers at low prices. Besides, the labor in 

 Galicia is cheaper than in Bohemia, and they thus acquire cheap lum- 

 ber, which they bring to their Bohemian lumber yards. 



IMPORTS OF LUMBER. 



There is no lumber imported from the United States into Bohemia 

 direct. Some American black walnut is used here, mainly for veneer- 

 ing, but this is imported from Hamburg. I have visited a lumber firm 

 in this city that advertises American lumber for sale and inquired 

 what kind and how much they handle, and whether they import it 

 directly, etc. The information I have received was that recently they 

 bought a carload of American black walnut and pitch pine from Ham- 

 burg for a trial, but were unable to say how it was going to sell. It is 

 said that in Prague some years ago American walnut sold cheaper than 

 the Tyrolean walnut, but now it is the other way. The trouble with 

 the American lumber seems to be that its price is too high when it 

 reaches here in consequence of its indirect importation. It is bought 

 from middlemen either at Hamburg or Bremen, and in that way it 

 passes probably through three or four hands before it reaches the con- 

 sumer. It is admitted by the lumber dealers here that the market for 

 American lumber in Bohemia alone is not large enough to warrant 

 American lumber dealers profitable shipments. Still, I am of the opin- 

 ion that a good market could be opened for American lumber, such as 

 black walnut, elm, and others that are not produced here, by estab- 

 lishing an agency at Prague that would extend to the Empire of Aus- 

 tria-Hungary. The demand would be sufficient to warrant large ship- 



