40 Forestry Quarterly 



The various products made from sawmill waste often demand 

 quite different size, shape and quality of pieces, so that it is 

 usually impossible, or at least unprofitable to utilize all waste 

 from a given mill for a single product. Nevertheless, a box 

 factory manufacturing a suitable grade of box boards should 

 be able to utilize from 40 to 60 per cent of the normal waste from 

 the average mill (provided, of course, that it cuts woods suit- 

 able for box boards), and to leave a sufficient unsuitable remainder 

 to stock the lath mill. 



There are few kinds of wood which cannot be made into 

 box boards, although some, such as cottonwood and White pine, 

 are exceptionally desirable. Among the more common hard- 

 woods which can be used are cottonwood, Yellow poplar. Red gum, 

 tupelo, basswood, buckeye, chestnut, butternut and others. Among 

 the softwoods are White pine, spruce, balsam. Southern and 

 Western Yellow pines, Western hemlock and certain of the cedars. 



Box factories generally use fairly high grade lumber, and 

 have not taken kindly to the idea of using sawmill waste. Hence 

 such work as has been done along this line has been by the 

 sawmills themselves, some of which have successfully established 

 box factories of their own. 



There are four classes of sawmill waste which can be used in 

 the manufacture of box boards, or "shooks" as they are often 

 called. First, trimmings and edgings from the main sawmill ; 

 second, culls from the planing mill ; third, odds and ends which 

 accumulate about the plant and yard ; fourth, slabs. 



Trade customs which make it necessary that practically all 

 lumber be cut into lengths which are multiples of even feet, and 

 the necessity for trimming boards to rid them of wane or other 

 defects insure a constant supply of boards too short for ordinary 

 uses. These make excellent material for boxes. Edging strips are 

 not so valuable, as they are apt to be too narrow, but heavy 

 ones can be used. Every planing mill turns out a certain amount 

 of finished lumber which is imperfectly manufactured. Boards 

 with skips in dressing, or with a tongue or a groove split off, 

 or perhaps with a strip of wane left on are examples of such 

 culls. Many such boards cannot be manufactured profitably, but 

 are suitable for box shook stock. Every mill has its quota of 

 dead stock, such as boards spoiled in seasoning, odds and ends 

 of special orders, badly sap-stained pieces and the like. A box 



