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Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



February 10, 1922 



This Picture Gives a View of the Smoking Room of the "Nourmahal," Vincent Aster's New Yacht, the Finest Pleasure Craft Afloat. The Handsome Paneling 



That Distinguishes the Room Is American Walnut 



Better Packages with Less Timber 



Incidently the veneer industry is bringing about a sort of evolu- 

 tion in timber conservation in connection with fruit packing ana 

 crate making generally. !t is going on quietly and it is only now 

 and then that somebody awakens to the fact that it is significant and 

 important. 



Some time ago a w^riter in American Forestry pointed to the fact 

 that wooden boxes absorb about 1 5 per cent of our total lumber 

 cut, and raise an interesting question of future supply of material 

 for box making. He went on to show^ that in Florida alone the 

 citrus fruit growers require more than 12 million boxes a year and 

 that it is probable that by 1930 the Florida citrus fruit growers 

 alone will require 40 million boxes or something like 220 million 

 feet of lumber a year. This same state requires 1 3 million boxes 

 a year for truck growers. He might also have added that this year 

 the peach growers of Georgia shipped more than 10,000 cars of 

 peaches and all these had to be put up in packages. 



Part of the answer to the problem this writer raises is to be 

 found in that very Florida fruit section which he calls attention 

 to. It is found in the fact that much of the material for the citrus 

 fruit boxes of Florida are made on rotary veneer cutting machines 

 which make for economy and better utility. It means making the 

 same amount of timber produce more packages than would be 

 practical if it were cut into lumber. 



There is a significant trend toward wooden packages made of 

 rotary veneer material which manifests itself in various w^ays. 



At the annual cooperage convention at St. Louis last spring the 

 slack cooperage division manifested much concern over the fact 

 that other packages were crowding the barrel out of the apple 

 trade. A fruit grower who publishes a farm paper said that basket 

 manufacturers had made a study of their requirements and have 

 been capturing quite a lot of business in apple shipping in bushel 

 baskets. Here we have one of those significant instances w^here 

 the rotary veneer machine is playing an important part. The ma- 

 terial for the baskets is cut on veneer machines producing a thin 

 product with no kerf loss thus effecting a saving in the process of 

 manufacture. And since the package itself is lighter and contains 

 less wood it means an important step in progress toward conserving 

 our timber by making less timber serve a larger purpose. 



We get something of the same thing in wire bound boxes, three 

 ply panel boxes used for many kinds of shipping, peach baskets 

 and many other baskets that are products of the rotary veneer ma- 

 chine. And many of the crates and hampers used by truck grow- 

 ers are now made of veneer whereas in the earlier days they were 

 made of heavier slats of wood. 



We more commonly think of the veneer machine as effecting 

 economy and making a wider spread with our fancy face w^oods, 

 but eventually we w^ill probably come to realize that it is to play an 

 equally important part in the future in the light of economy and 

 conservation of the cheaper and plainer woods being converted to 

 w^ooden package uses. 



