HARDWOOD RECORD 



31 



WOODEN ^JVn FI'BER 



By H. S. SACKETT, U. S. Forest Service 



At the semi-annual meeting of tlio grades for all purposes and for all time. Shoo 



National Association of Box Manufacturers ''?^'^^ ^° N<^^^ England were made of white 



«,„ij ;„ ■o„„i,„„+„, -KT -c- • A t. tnin P'"6 of a grade which pattern makers and 



held in JKochester, N. Y., in August, 1910, ' „i f„.(.„ ■ i, 1 1 -i ^ ^ ^ 



, , .j.ui,L.oi,, ^^A.^J, gpgji factories would now be glad to get, and 



H. S. Sackett, chief, Office of Wood Util- many factories insisted on a grade of yellow 



ization. United States Forest Service, gave poplar good enough for carriage panels and 



an address on ''The Extent and Growth of <'="' ''°'^''- Clear sycamore, often quarter- 



*!,„ -i?-u -D„ T„ 1 „4. )) « J. ti i- ii • sawed, was demanded for plug tobacco boxes, 



the Fiber Box Industry." At the time this ,„^ ,^^„i, ^.^^ ^^^-^^^^^ i^^l^^-^^ ^^ basswood 



talk was given, the Office of Wood Utiliza- clear enough and soft enough to meet the 



tion had not completed fully the investiga- demands of pyrogrnpliy. 



tion of this industry, and Mr. Sackett was ^hat situation could not last always. The 



„„ , . • iv. t. i! j.1. constantly lessening forest area and the ever 



compelled to promise the members of the j^e^easing demand for lumber raised the cost 



association the statistical information con- of the grades which the box maker had for- 



cerning it at a later date. After the com- merly demanded, and lie was forced to take 



pilation of these statistics, it was decided to ^^'^^r grades and substitute other kinds. His 



, J? ii, J t -1 1 • J.- i- J- demands increased as boxes come into wider 



make a further detailed investigation of ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^.^^^ circumstances forced 



both the fiber and wooden box industries. lower and cheaper grades of lumber upon him. 



This work was done by H. Maxwell The box factory became the market for what 



of the Office of Wood Utilization. The two ^^^ sawmill had left after it had supplied its 



. , , I,- 1 1 u other customers. That is the situation today, 



reports have been combined, and are here- ^-.^^^^^^ ^f feet of lumber yearly go to the 



with presented through the courtesy of ],ox maker as a last resort. He can use it, 



Thomas MeCulloch, manager of the National liut the furniture factory, the boat builder. 



Association of Box Manufacturers. tlie musical instrument maker, and similar in- 

 dustries cannot. If it is not used for boxes it 



Wooden and Fiber Boxes -n-iU bo left in the woods or at the mills to 



Nearly all shipping boxes are of wood or rot. Formerly few kinds of wood were ac- 



of fiber. The two kinds come in keen compe- copied at the box factories; now nearly every- 



tition in some lines, in other lines each is thing goes. This cannot be better illustrated 



fairly secure in its own field. Very large boxes than by presenting a list of woods, and their 



are not made of fiber, nor those that must be amounts, bought by the box factories in the 



«xtra strong. Lumber as it comes from the state of Illinois in 1909: 



sawmill or the planing mill is the material of „ ., .„. ^ .,,^„n 



which the wooden box is made, but the fiber Box Lumber Used in Illinois, 1909 



box is of pulp, pressed into boards of suitable Species Board Feet 



thickness and strength. The pulp may be ^ff^-^^^g j^g (pj„„j strohus) 105,438,000 



composed of two or more ot several fibrous ji^a gnm (Liquidamhar styraciflua) 50,774,000 



materials. The wooden box long ago reached Cottonwood (Poimlu^ deltoides) . . . 38,807,000 



all the important markets of the world as a Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) 34,477,000 



container of merchandise, but the fiber box is g^gg^ ^^.^j^ (Bgj,,^ icnta) 20,146,000 



not so extensively employed, nor lias it been p ^,5,.^,^ {BetuU papyrifera) . . 19,312,000 



so long in common use. The making ot con- g|,^gj. ^^ jg .^^g,. saccharinum) . . 15,234,000 



tamers ot fiber, ot sufficient strength to serve ghortleaf pine (Pbms echinata) . . 13,740,000 



as the outside cases m freight shipments, is Lo^gigaf pine (Fimis imhistris) . . . 13,405,000 



an important industry of very recent growth. g^ -j. '^^ ,^^^,. saccharum) . . . 12,565,000 



At first, there was litt e competition between B^Iswood (2'aio amencmia) 12,212,000 



fiber and wood. Such boxes as were made ot ygjj^^ j^^^. /Uriodendron tulip- 



nber were small and not strong, and when if era) 10 821 000 



shipped by freight, were usually packed in ^i.ite e\m' (Vlimis a'mericana)'.'.'.'. 6,'l24!oOO 



cases of wood Lately, however, the fiber fi.]ip^(;rv elm (Uhnus ptibescens) . . 5,000,000 



box has claimed a place on an equal footing j,^'^^^ (Fanus atronnnicea) 3,493.000 



with wood, and has received the same freight ,p^ j^ (jvr,,^^,, aqnaiica) -. 2,750;000 



rates that are accorded wooden boxes. The p^j,,^ ^^ qI^^^^ {Populus halsamif. 



fiber contamer, however, is subject to strict ^,j.^>, 9 475 000 



regulations as to size and strength, while the ^^^^^^^ ^g,; Vp^aximus amak'cana) '. '. l!2obio00 



wooden box is not. For that reason the fiber Cypress (Taxodium dislichum) . . . . 910,000 



box that carries freight must be eompara- ^'^^^ ^^^^^^. ,j,,nip„us virqiniami) . 875,000 



tively small. In spite ot this and because of ^j^^^ ^,^1^ {Praximus nigra) 635,000 



its cheapness and certain other advantages g^^amore (Platanm occidentalis) . 400,000 



claimed for it, the fiber box has become an ^^^^^ ^ .^^^^ (Picea mariana) .... 363,000 



important factor in commerce, and has appar- j^g^-, ^^y. /o„(,„„s rubra) 250,000 



■ently gained a place trom wliicli it will never chestnut (Caslanca dentala) 200,000 



recede On the other hand, the wooden box ^^^ .^g (p-,„,^. ,.„;,i„.,„) 150,000 



has a field in which at present the fiber box is Northern white cedar {Thuja occi- 



not a competitor, and there is no indication denlalis) ' ■ ■ 100,000 



that it will soon become so. The competition j^^^^^^^ /£'^;(x iaw'cina) '.'.'.'.'.'.'. 75^000 



between tlie two, though it is alert and vigor- j^oblollv pin- (Pimi.t taeda) 64,000 



ous, is confined to rather narrow limits. ^1^^..^ ^.;f,^^ (^„;,-^. ^j^^^) 30,000 



Historical Review of the Wooden Box 



Until recent years the demand for wooden Total 372,025,000 



bo.xes was comparatively small, though wide- -p„g Fiber Box 

 spread. It grew with the increase of trade, 



and with the building of railroads which car- It is not improbable that the fiber box is as 



ried the manufactures from the centers to all old as the box of wood, and history does not 



the outlving territorv. At first, lumber was record the first use of either. ASTiilc the an- 



so plent'iful and cheap that box makers, like cient Egyptians, with rude gimlets, rubbing 



nearly all other people, demanded high grades, stones, and clumsy tools of other kinds, were 



and ignored inferior stuff. Waste at the mill making coffins of hewed logs or joined boards 



and in the woods was given little consideration. and staves of Lebanon cedar and sycamore, 



There was supposed to be enough of the good they were also making coffins of woven and 



BOXES 



intertwined reeds, grasses and leaves. Both 

 were crude prototypes of the modern box. The 

 container made of fiber first reduced to pulp 

 dates from the invention of paper. A century 

 or two centuries ago the most common and tho 

 principal form was the old-fashioned bandbox, 

 a commodity made necessary by the fashion of 

 wearing enormous collars — for the bandbox 

 was originally a collar box, and not a recep- 

 tacle for hats, as it became later. It was, to 

 some extent, a sign of luxury and wealth, for 

 the travelers who possessed finery carried tho 

 articles in bandboxes; and writers of fact and 

 the novelists of a century or three-quarters of 

 a century ago seldom failed to speak of that 

 species of baggage while describing travel by 

 .stage coaches before the days of railroads. 

 Such boxes were generally of pasteboard, 

 made largely of straw, or some material other 

 than wood pulp. 



Fiber boxes of that kind entered little or 

 not at all into competition with the wooden 

 boxes. They had their own field, and the 

 wooden box had its, and the two kinds con- 

 tinued until a few years ago to go their sepa- 

 rate ways without any business rivalry. The 

 fiber box grew enormously in usefulness as 

 industries developed which demanded a light 

 container. The old country store sold sugar 

 and "tied it up" in brown paper; sold starch, 

 soap, shoe-pegs, sulphur, coffee, nails and foods 

 in the same way, and the clumsy packages were 

 received by the purchaser without protest, be- 

 cause nothing better was known. But the 

 manufacturers whose commodities were to be 

 sold in parcels learned that an attractive, con- 

 \enient container was half the sale, and the 

 fiber carton or small box came into use for 

 coffee, tacks, sugar, starch, shoes, collars and 

 thousands of commodities which formerly had 

 gone in bulk to the retailer and were by him 

 wrapped and tied as the sales were made. The 

 sudden increase in the manufacture of thread 

 on spools that came with the invention of the 

 sewing machine, and the rapid growtli of the 

 custom-made shoe industry, which replaced the 

 old, time-worn custom of each neighborhood 

 making its own shoes, led to great demand for 

 fiber boxes. Later followed tlie much greater 

 demand when foodstuffs, such as cereals, dried 

 fruits and confectionery sought markets in 

 cartons neatly sealed and handsomely litho- 

 graphed. However, up to that stage, the fiber 

 box was not a competitor with tlic larger and 

 stronger box made of lumber. The cartons 

 were shipped in wooden cases and boxes, 

 thereby increasing instead of diminishing the 

 demand for such. But the constantly widening 

 demand for the two classes of boxes was soon 

 to reach a point where business rivalry was 

 inevitable. Two influences, acting in opposite 

 directions, hastened that result. On the one 

 hand, the cost of good lumber had increased 

 because of lessening supply, and the wooden 

 box cost more: on the other hand, the dis- 

 covery had been made that a fiber box could 

 be had strong enough to take the place of 

 ■nood, and cheaper. 



Erv-iLRY FOu Trade 



The rivalry for trade between the makers 

 of the two classes of boxes is keen and wide- 

 spread. Each seeks business in the same field, 

 for the line of separation which formerly gave 

 each its share is recognized no longer. In one 

 respect the contest is peculiar, and unusual, in 

 that it is conducted by each side upon the 

 claim that it is carrying out the principles of 

 conservation by using material which would 

 otherwise be wasted. The specific contention 

 of the makers of wooden boxes is that enor- 

 mous quantities of low grade lumber are de- 

 manded for such boxes, and if not used in 



