A WESTERN GREETING for r95r!

SEASON'S GREETINGS qre in order ond we qt WESIERN CUSTOM MIIJ., INC. wish to bring you best wishes for A MERRY CHRISTMITS and A succEssFur l95r

During next yeqrond for crll the yeors to come-you con depend on us for BETTER MITIJNG and EFFICIEIVT SERVICE when you hove custom miiling problems, becouse we will work your mqteriol right to SPECIFICATION Why not give us ct coll ond see how our technicol speciolists deliver-on schedule, too! We ore equipped to handle cr tmck Iood or o troin lood.

The Mahogany Horizon

By Geo. N. Lamb, Secretary-Manager

Mahogany Association, Inc.

Before getting down to cases, I would like to say that the I,Iahogany industry is beset by the business problems that face all industry, large and small. Our problems are not merely those that originate in one continent but in three. We live and manufacture in the United States but must obtain our raw material from Central and South America and from Africa. It means doing business in a dozen tropical countries with varying governmental, economic and climatic hazards.

Under these conditions it is not the part of r't'isdom to assume the role of a prophet. All we can do is to take a look at what has happened in the past, review the present situation and rvith plenty of "ifs," make a gu'ess that might hold good for a month, six months or a year.

In quick review, demand and supply have followed a somervhat diverging course since the end of the war. Both have been very much on the increase but demand has been consistently greater than supply. In veneers especially, demand has outrun supply. Fortunately, we entered the postwar period rvith a large inventory of veneer. Without'it, shortages would have been acute. Two-thirds of that inventory has been whittled away. This has happened in spite of the fact that current production has more than doubled that of 1945. The furniture buyer can blame, and the producer can thank the television industry for a very substantial part of this increased demand.

At the beginning of the postwar period there was very little n-rahogany lumber inventory. As a critical war material, most mahogany lumber went into war uses. The same was true of veneer but military specifications excluded all figured wood rvhich u'as channeled into veneer rather than lumber. Mahogany lumber inventory has built up gradually but is still far from that of prewar years. Here again supplies have increased but not enough to give prewar service in grades, thickness and dryness. The scarcity of choice domestic woods and the narrowing difierence in cost between them and Mahogany have been factors in the demand for mahogany.

We feel that it is quite likely the demand for mahogany may have reached its peak for some time to come. The demand for furniture correlates very closely with home building and the demand for mahogany follows that of furniture in peace time. If the estimate of one-third less home building in 1951 is accurate, this should reduce furniture demands for mahogany. This drop in home building, as u'ell as the defense demand for electronic equipment and also restrictions on strategic metals should slow up television, the number tu"o market for mahogany.

There is no reason to suppose that other markets for mahogany will increase. Boat building, interior woodwork and fixtures, musical instruments are more likely to drop off than to increase in a rearmament economy. The same applies to 25 or 30 minor markets for mahogany. All in all it seems reasonable to suppose that civilian goods in which mahogany is used will be ofi in production in 1951.

Mahogany for Defense PurPoses

In \\torld War II mahogany was a critical raw material .with