them at the center. These “webs” are then sent to an automatic ma- 
chine which turns out about five baskets per minute. Wire handles are 
also put on automatically from wire in rolls and the basket is ready for 
the cover. Baskets are dried outside on an open porch and the loss in 
drying is very small. 
Hampers—In the case of hampers which are used for shipping 
vegetables such as sweet potatoes, the staves are of veneering, each stave 
24 inches long. The bottom is made of two half-circular boards joined 
together with a staple, “cores” left by the circular veneer machines, being 
used for this purpose. Hampers are made on automatic machines, the 
staves being fed into the machine with the two narrow flexible strips 
which, after being stapled, will hold them all together. Good operators 
when speeding up with these automatic stapling machines, can turn out 
150 hampers per hour. Another form of package turned out by the mills 
and in large demand for shipping peaches and tomatoes is the popular 
four-basket crate, the baskets nesting in a box made from strips of veneer- 
ing; and some mills turn out small baskets used for shipping cantaloupes 
and cucumbers. 
MANUFACTURERS IN THE REGION, AND PRODUCTS 
Among the manufacturers whom some of the members of our sur- 
vey party have visited we may mention the following: 
Merchant’s Box and Basket Co., Grand Tower, Illinois. Their mill 
is located on the Mississippi River and gets 90% of its raw material from 
Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. It uses from 
three to four million feet yearly and employs from 100 to 125 hands, using 
daily about 12,000 to 15,000 board feet. It manufactures berry crates, 
grape baskets, bushel hampers, and half-bushel hand-baskets. The woods 
used are mainly red gum, sycamore, tulip-tree, and tupelo, but a very little 
beech is used. Logs from 16 inches in diameter and upwards are pre- 
ferred, and the mill can handle a bolt as long as 76 inches. According 
to their statement there is very little prime veneer-timber left in Illinois, 
the best tract, near Reynoldsville, having been cut some years ago. 
Rendleman Brothers, Alto Pass. This firm has a mill in the south- 
east corner of Section 19, Tp. 11 S., R. 2 W., which has been running for 
six years. It is located near the source of supply, and is equipped with a 
planer and a veneer machine. It employs six hands, uses annually about 
100,000 board feet, and the product is hauled to Alto Pass or Cobden. 
W. A. Friese, Alto Pass. Mr. Friese has two mills, one located on 
Clear Creek in Section 25, T. 11 S., R. 3 W., and another in Alto Pass. 
The town mill uses about 20,000 board feet annually in supplying part of 
the local trade with baskets, while the mill out of town saws lumber and 
railway ties. 
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