OF OHIO 



91 



line, consuming: 4,733,186 board feet annually and requiring 1 eight 

 separate woods for the purpose. Florida, with Tampa and Key 

 West as its leading cities, has long- been noted for its fine cigaas, and 

 the advantages of being near the source of supply and requiring the 

 best wood for that class of products, enables the manufacturers to 

 use Spanish cedar entirely. But it is radically different in Ohio and 

 neighboring states. Here the cigar makers are satisfied with a 

 cheaper box, because their grade of product as an average cannot 

 afford a more .expensive one. Practically all the cigar boxes made 

 in the State are constructed of two-ply stock, a cheaper wood over- 

 laid with Spanish cedar veneer.. Cotton grum, red gum, and yellow 

 poplar are the principal low-priced domestic woods used for this 

 purpose, preference being given to the gums, because the increas- 

 ing high price of old yellow poplar is likely taking it out of reach. 

 It is difficult now to find even a few mills that are turning out thin 

 yellow poplar for cigar box material, and no doubt within the next 

 few years this wood will practically cease to be a factor in this line 

 of manufacture. 



Fig. 24. Cigar mold made of poplar, beech and maple. (Statistics 

 included under Miscellaneous.) 



Tupelo or cotton gum and red gum are both admirable woods 

 for this purpose, they work easily and with the improved methods of 

 kiln-drying veneer there is little difficulty in their twisting and 

 warping after manufacture. The custom of stamping these woods, 



