30 WOOD-USING INDUSTRIES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



BOXES AND CRATES. 



As each year the virgin stands of timber in North Carolina approach 

 nearer to exhaustion the sawmill man seeks to supply his demands more 

 and more from the second and even the third growths of timber. This 

 necessity has become well-nigh universal in the yellow-pine districts, 

 resulting in a considerable increase in the quantity of the lower grades 

 of lumber. The necessity for utilizing these lower grades is, no doubt, 

 one of the chief factors in developing, in North Carolina, the manufac- 

 ture of boxes. There is a grade of yellow-pine lumber which is known 

 to the trade as "boxing" ; this, however, is not included in these statis- 

 tics. The figures and items in Table 9 refer to material actually con- 

 sumed in the making of boxes and crates by the several woodworking 

 industries of the State. The box manufacturers use over 68,000,000 

 feet of timber annually, making this industry third in the State for 

 quantity used. The cost of the material was $651,000, an average price 

 of $9.56 per M feet. All the material going into boxes and box shocks 

 is supplied by North Carolina, excepting 2,000,000 feet, which is re- 

 ported grown in South Carolina at $1 more per M feet than the home- 

 grown yellow pine. North Carolina pine makes up two-thirds of the box 

 material, while gum is second in importance. For exportations, espe- 

 cially to South Africa and Australia, gum boxes are in great demand. 

 The trade to these foreign countries contends that goods sell more 

 readily in packages made of this material. This has brought about an 

 increasing demand for gum box shooks, and accounts for the fact that 

 54% per cent of all the gum consumed in the State of North Carolina 

 is manufactured into these products. White pine is also an important 

 wood for the box makers, who use 47 per cent of all this wood pur- 

 chased by the manufacturers in the State. A fourth of the box makers 

 in North Carolina cut their material from the log, and the industry 

 is becoming closely allied with the large sawmills which are striving 

 more and more to put to some use those grades of lumber that would 

 otherwise go to waste. Boxes and box shooks are not all made of the 

 lower grades of lumber, as they must vary in price and grade according 

 to use. Some high-priced boxes require the best grades of lumber, such 

 as trunks, sample cases, and packages designed for the shipment of goods 

 of fine textures where the exclusion of moisture and dust is of prime 

 consideration. 



