, 1874-04-04
MINNESOTA LUMBER.
A Review Of the Northwestern
Market.
The Log-1farvest Of West Wisconsin,
and Minnesota.
Prices, Frejghts, ETC., Etc.
Correspondence Of Tho chieaao 1rtbune.

MINNEAPOLIS, Einn., March 81, 1874.
Tho sound Of tho 1unbormnn's ax las ceased
to DO heard IN tho land; tho logs havo boon
"bankcd" mud tho stnlwart woolman awaits tho
genial April sunshine and tho soft southern
breozos which aro TO convert tho SHOWS Of winter
into tho customary spring timc freslot, and float
| lis pfnoy u drive into tho haven prepared by
tho boom company for tho accommodation Of
| his merchandise. In other and more explicit
language tho
| NUMBERING sEABoN '
| Ia over for tho winter OF 1874, and tho logging
crews {sayo those who aro to accompany the
drivo) aro coming down for brief soason Of rcst
before commencing tho lnbors Of tho summer In
tho innumorahlo saw-mllls which vo1 tho placid
watoYB Of the Mlssssippi River ut this point. 4
| brief review Of tho work OF tho Rcaaon in tho
| Minnesota lumber holdB may not be lacking in
interest to the readors OF TuE TRIBUNE, mud
certainly thu faots will not be unprofitablo to
those interested In tho trado Of tho West.
THE Loa-lIAnyEsT.
Owing to tho panic last fall, md tho conse-
q,ert atagnation Of all branches Of business,
tho logging firms Of this city failed to send as
large crows "a usual into tho woot1s; md henco,
from data at prcsout astainab1o thoro seems to
1ayo been a very considerable fallng-ofr in tho
cut. The Surveyor General Of Logs and Lum-
her estimates tho ontire cut on tho Uppcr Mis-
eissippl Which soohs boomago at and above thia
city Qncluding tho Rum River torritory)
at 150000,o00 feet; but tue hoat.iu-
formed lunbormcu, set tho harvest much
1owof,--varying from 1300o0,0o0 to no.
100000. Probably tho correct estmate
is not far from tho last-namod t1guro but to
this must be added 2aooo,oo0 held ovor from
tho harvest Of year ago. and which now 1io In tho
l h0r11 MI cr 11nnr f1n 1ru
0o0 900 foot for next acason's work a1ficng tile
tweuty-odd zaslls located In this city, m,d those
! of Arola, Olear Water, st. Cloud, and abovo,-
| q very decided falliug-oR from Tie amount cut
last Boaaon.
Tho above applies only to Tho harvest Of the
Upper Alisslssippi, including tho Rum River
(tio Surveyor General Of The S. croix District,
which includes an tho vast region between tho
Mississippi River at Prescott and the head Of
Luke snperior) TINT tho cut Of TINT atrcnm aud
its tributaries, will, from the nost oaroful
estimates and after all entiro wintec spent in
visiting tho ditforont crows employed, yield
nbout 40, ,000,00u. This, too, is D. worry large
reduction from lust year, and is doubtlosa duo,
in gfeas meaausc. to tho difficulty in getting
necessary to conmonec operations.
\ 4 FAVORABLE WINTEn,
| The wintor LAS boon most favorable for oper-
ations throughout the entire longth and breadth
Of tho WISCONSIN and Minnesota iumbor-fiolls,
I Grcou Bay nortl, aud westward to. tho British
lino and Red lver Of tho North. There has
boen mn abundance Of snow, but not too much,
and no delaying, storms; the enow cano curly ii
country uAncd above, still covers the ground to
sufficient depth for active md continuous
opes"tions.-at having, as no TIME during tho
winter, melted sufficiently to delay in the least
tho Btoady progreaB of work. all lumbornen
agree IN reporting that 1lovcr in tho history Of
numbering operations has there been moro
THE spnryEs.''
t now rornalns to DO soen whether Providence
will continue to beam with smiling countonat,co
upon the efforts Of these workers, Or whother
tho fruits of 80 n,nny months Of toll will bo
"hnng up" during tho summon for laols OF
suElicient wates III the smaller streams for
s'driying" purpoBos. Should tho ''driycs" fail
to come down, or oven PORTION Of thcm. it will
make il q remarkably slim year for operations,
and will havo u decided tendency to aoud up tho
prico Of lumber.
There is little or no competition between tho
mills of This city and the mills Of Saltwater, as
tho two placos cultivate each an entirely differ
, ent field, to d ycry great extent., The product
Of tho score Of mills in this city seeks pur-
, chasera III tho southern and southwestern por-
tions Of this state, and alse supplies entirely tho
Of. St. Paul, Minneapolis, aud The
cities up Stho S1innossota Valley. stIllwator
! aoats, her lumber down tho st; Crox into
the Mississippi. and thonce to MI tho towns and
cities along tho bankB Of tho Eroat river to st.
Louis, and comes in competition with the heavy
lumbor-intoresta OF Chicago Of tho towns Of D.l-
buque, chnton, Davenport burlington, Keokull,
and westward from those and other citlos hay.
ing railway connoctlon westward. Notwith.
standing tile fact TINT are practically as neas
to the rapidly -aesetoping states Of Nebraska
srdas a Md9sS az 1 is qhs no a rsn are sss
railway, Il seems impossible, because Of
excessive freight-cllargeB, to compete with tho
lumber.trade Of Chicago, although. in isolated
1urge bills to buyers from omahe, Lincoln, and
ogon Loayonworth md Kansas City. This yea1
promises gomewllat better, 80 far ia tho lower
grades Of lumber are concerned, as somo OF the
or than they have over been offered boforo. But
tho price rcmainB tic snmo OIL tic botter grades,
or cloar lumber.
pD1cEs OF Lous.
| Notwithstanding tho TACT that tho entire crop
Of the wntor lies snugly slunaberlng in tho leo
bound streams OF their native forests, tho lnnl-
bormen have begun TO- buy, npd sell, taking
chances oil tho ''driye" coming down sRfely,
sand now. according to grade e,-tho 1irst-montion-
ou sum huying been paid oil Saturday last for
quite an oxtulsivo lot OF anforior logs; and the
latter offered by another nanniacturer I, for
SLIGO, aud porhups 4l2, as the spring advances,
unl tho MILLS discover that 1t H. barely possible
tint they will run short before tho saving season
closes down.
COMPARATIVE STATEMENT.
The following figures will show tho number OF
logs cut IN tho Upper Mississippi district during
ths wintor just closed, az compared with tho har-
vest or one and two yoars ago:
Logs scalcd ia 1872 1872 .15o, ooo, ,ooo
robabo cutting Of 1874 {estimated .1l5 900
LUMBER ON HAND.
THO following will show how tho stock On hand
q: this tlnlo compares with one year ago:
Lumber haud April !, 1878 {estiuatc) 80 600 900
Lumber Oh hanA Aps.l 1871 tcslimatod> G000o,oou
These estimates a,o arr,yod at by consulting.
with tho leading ln1abor-lloaers and mill-lnou OF
the city, mud comparing their statements, and
may bo rolled upon NJ noarly correct 1t will DO
seon that tho HMpplieH Of tla yoar iall tar short
OF last, while on every l!nnd it is conceded that
tho local, State, and noighborhood demand will
| DO much lArgor.