HARDWOOD RECORD 



43 



REGARDING BOX MANUFACTURE 



"Do you think,'' a box man was asked, "that the box factory 

 which has just gone into bankruptcy in your city could have suc- 

 ceeded under different management? It seems to have a good loca- 

 tion, building and machinery." 



' ' No, experience in this has proven that the small box factory i 

 cannot last any length of time, as it must do a large volume of 

 business or be forced down and out by a big overhead expense. The 

 factory you mention cut iip from six to ten thousand feet a day and 

 could HOC exist in competition with three other plants in the city, 



which usuallj' work from forty to sixty thousand feet a day. 



' ' Our business is one in which there is the fiercest kind of com- 

 petltion, and we must have the volume to enable us to continue. Then 

 we have ever with us the spectre of the pasteboard and paper Vjox, 

 and when lumber gets beyond a certain point a substitute is made. 



' ' I received this morning word from one of my salesmen that a 

 concern who had been using a large quantity of our wooden boxes 

 had refused to pay a higher price, which we were compelled to ask 

 on account of the advance in lumber, and had substituted pasteboard 

 boxes, and I fear we will never get his business back. ' ' 



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Under date of May L'o the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture issued a pamphlet on the wood using industries of Tennessee. 

 The work is compiled by Clark W. Gould and Hugh Maxwell of the 

 Forest Service, and is in line with work being done by the govern- 

 ment, covering every state in the Union in this way. 



According to the report, Tennessee consumes annually 413,878,167 

 feet of lumber, of which white oak holds the most important place, 

 14.95 per cent of the total consumption of lumber being of that 

 species. The next four in order are short leaf pine, yellow pine, red 

 oak and. red gum, all being very close in relative importance. 



The average cost of lumber consumed in the state was $20.73 dur- 

 ing the year preceding the compilation of the report, and 63.61 per 

 cent of it was grown in Tennessee. The species which came exclu- 

 sively from Tennessee were black gum, chestnut oak, yellow oak, 

 cucumber, slippery elm, large tooth aspen, butternut, table mountain 

 pine, white cedar, burr oak, osage orange and river birch. 



The planing mill industry is the largest wood using element among 

 the industries of Tennessee. The chief commodities manufactured 

 are flooring, ceiling and siding, and those products are made and 

 offered for sale on the general market. As a general thing the plan- 

 ing mills are merely adjuncts to the sawmills cutting lumber. Eed 

 oak, which doubtless includes a number of species under that name, is 

 the most important of the species consumed in this industry. A con- 

 siderable amount of black walnut was also found to be used. Thirty- 

 one species in all were used in Tennessee in the manufacture of 

 planing mill products, the five leading species being respectively red 

 oak, white oak, yellow poplar, short leaf pine and red gum. These 

 products cost on an average $22.03 a thousand feet. 



The manufacture of packing boxes and crates is the second largest 

 wood consuming indvistry in the state of Tennessee. It is rather a 

 peculiar fact that Tennessee pays a higher average price for box 

 material than any of the other important fox manufacturing states 

 when it is considered that this state has an abundance of cheap raw 

 material to call upon. The average price in Tennessee for box 

 material is $16.26. Cottonwood is the leading species used in the 

 manufacture of boxes in Tennessee, and is far ahead of all the 

 others, representing a total consumption annually of 22,550,000 feet, 

 at an average cost of $21.99. The next four in order are red gum, 

 yellow poplar, short leaf pine and buckeye, the first three being 

 considerably in advance in point of consumption over buckeye. The 

 average price for all these woods is $16.26. Of the grand total of 

 77,979,510 feet of lumber used in the manufacture of boxes and 

 crates, 57,271,510 feet came from the forests of Tennessee. 



The manufacture of furniture in the state of Tennessee has assumed 

 businesslike proportions. Manufacturers in that state are success- 

 fully marketing their jiroduct in competition with other better known 

 markets, and are shipping their goods often to great distances from 

 places of manufacture. The state, while not yet on a par with North 

 Carolina as a furniture producing state, now turns out three times 

 as much as does Kentucky. The natural advantages accrueing from 

 an abundance of good furniture material in Tennessee forests make 

 the furniture manufacturing industry in the state a lucrative propo- 

 sition. Local furniture manufacturers procure about two-thirds of 



their raw material from Tennessee forests. The average cost per 

 thousand feet to the furniture manufacturer is $22.34. The total 

 consumption of wood in this industry is 39,272,000 feet, of which 

 more than nine-tenths is hardwood. The four leading species in 

 order are red gum, white oak, red oak and yellow poplar. Of these 

 four, the only ones aggregating a total annual consumption of ever 

 a million feet, red gum, white oak and red oak, are far in advance 

 of all the others, red gum being in the lead with a total consumption 

 of 13,510,000 feet. Of the total consumption, 25,628,000 feet come 

 from the state of Tennessee. 



Eed cedar forms quite an important item in the production of 

 furniture woods in the state, this wood being extensively used in the 

 manufacture of chests, which are used all over the country. 



Fifth in importance in the wood consuming industries of the vtate 

 of Tennessee are sash, doors and blinds and general mill work. Under 

 this heading are grouped stair work, balusters, railings, steps, interior 

 trim, mouldings and various other forms of manufacture for building 

 purposes. Short leaf pine leads all the other species in this par- 

 ticular group of manufacturing industries, and constitutes nearly 

 forty per cent of the total consumption, although twenty-two woods 

 are used, altogether. The total consumption of forest products for 

 this purpose is 38,216,500 feet, at an average price of $23.87. The 

 first seven important woods are short leaf pine, with a consumption 

 of 15,208,000 feet, followed by chestnut, cypress, yellow poplar, 

 white oak, long leaf pine and red giun, on about an even basis. 



The manufacture of vehicles and vehicle parts is of fair propor- 

 tion in the aggregate, but is made up of a large number of small 

 shops scattered all over the state, and but a few large factories. As 

 a consequence the report iiroba.bly omitted quite a number of these 

 small concerns, which it was not practicable to include. Hickory is 

 the most important wood in quantity used, although lower in price 

 than some of the others. Osage orange is the most costly of all 

 wagon material, prices being based on finished pieces ready for use, 

 after all work has been done and waste eliminated. Yellow poplar, 

 which ranges third highest in price, goes into carriage bodies on 

 account of its ability to take a high finish and hold paint, as well as 

 for other excellent physical qualities. A small consumption of black 

 walnut went into the manufacture of fancy vehicles in various places. 

 The total consumption of wood in this industry is 33,492,000 feet, of 

 which the average price is $24.99 a thousand feet. Hickory and white 

 oak were well in the lead in quantity of consumption, and next in 

 order were red oak, red gum, white ash, long leaf pine and yellow 

 poplar. 



There are nine different species used in the construction and 

 repair of cars in Tennessee, which industry represents a total con- 

 sumption of 14,164,900 feet at an average cost of $19.41 a thousand. 

 It is a pertinent fact that whOe Illinois uses twenty-five times as 

 much lumber in the manufacture and repair of cars, the average cost 

 of lumber in Tennessee is but half of what it is in Illinois. This 

 is accounted for to some extent by the fact that Illinois manu- 

 facturers use a number of foreign woods in high-grade work, such 

 as sleeping and dining ears, while in Tennessee the type of cars is 

 different, and no high-priced woods are used. Seventy-seven per cent 



