THE USES OF WOOD 



539 



but official statistics group all pines under four names 

 as shown in the following list : 



Northern white pine 1,131,969,940 

 Southern yellow pine 1,044,993,123 

 Western yellow pine 288,291,927 



Sugar pine 24,686,000 



Total 2,489,939,990 



THE COLLAPSIBLE CRATE 



It is commonly understood that a box or crate, when it has been used 

 once, is never sent back to be refilled. The return freight charges are 

 too high. But if the container can be "knocked down," and shipped 

 flat to economize space, the transportation cost will be one-third to one- 

 fifth as much as if the article were shipped in the bulky form. 



Other softwoods which contribute material to the box 

 industry are shown in the list below, the figures repre- 

 senting the number of feet reported yearly : 



Spruce 335,935,643 



Hemlock 203,526,091 



Balsam fir 40,172,700 



Cypress 38,962,895 



Larch 7,470,300 



Douglas fir 7,349,840 



Noble fir 6,653,500 



The list of hardwoods is longer but several of them 

 are employed in relatively small quantities as the follow- 

 ing table shows, the figures, as in the preceding tables, 

 representing the annual amount in feet : 



Red gum 402,121 



Cottonwool 210,519 



Yellow poplar 



Maple 



Birch 



Basswood 



Beech 



Tupelo 



Elm 



Oak 



Chestnut 



Sycamore 



Ash 



Willow 



165,416 

 98,831 

 90,787 

 86,979 

 77,899 

 74,982. 

 63,726 

 56,362 

 36,216 

 16,451 

 10,004 

 10,507. 



640 

 509 

 737 

 ,648 

 900 

 611 

 ,280 

 910 

 458 

 ,111 

 ,700 

 693 

 ,600 

 600 



Magnolia .... 

 Buckeye ...... 



Hickory 



Butternut 



Cucumber 

 Hackberry . . 



Cherry 



Black walnu: 



Silverbell 



Mahogany 

 Ailanthus .... 

 Mountain ash 

 Yucca 



5,499,000 



3,174,028 



767,920 



578,000 



524,000 



315,000 



170,500 



163,250 



91,308 



13,000 



5,000 



5,000 



3,500 



Total 1,410,117,611 



It has long been the custom to regard the manufac- 

 ture of tobacco boxes separate from others, and the table 



VEGETABLE BASKETS STACKED TO DRY 



Persons who compile statistics of the wood-using industries have never 

 reached an agreement whether baskets belong with barrels or boxes. 

 Ihey seem to come in between as to construction and also as to use. 

 Itle baskets in the above picture are the output of a factory in South 

 Carolina and are made of pine. 



below gives the consumption of wood in the production 

 of such containers. Most of the output is for cigar 

 boxes, the remainder being for plug tobacco. The fig- 

 ures represent feet per year : 



Spanish cedar 30,203,068 



Tupelo 10,376,217 



Yellow poplar 7,358,919 



Red gum 6,898,217 



Basswood 4,206,250 



Elm 1,809,000 



Cypress 1,559,127 



Sycamore 430,000 



Oak 403,200 



Red cedar 246,750 



White pine 



Mahogany 



Maple 



Magnolia 



Redwood 



African cedar . . 



Cottonwood 



Circassian waliu: 

 Rosewood 



199,425 



161,200 



96,450 



75,000 



61,000 



36,600 



6,750 



250 



100 



Total 61,127,423 



Spanish cedar supplies nearly half of all the cigar 

 box lumber. The wood comes from the West Indies 

 and Mexico, and possesses peculiar qualities which 

 fit it for cigar 

 boxes, chief of 

 which are its 

 odor and its 

 handsome ap- 

 pearance. It is 

 not a softwood 

 in the sense of 

 being a needle 

 leaf species. 

 The leaves and 

 the general ap- 

 pearance of the 

 growing tree 

 suggest black 

 walnut, while 

 the wood re- 

 sembles mahog- 

 any in color 

 and grain. That 

 listed as Afri- 

 can cedar is 

 probably one of 

 the so-called 

 West African 

 mahoganies. Ci- 

 gar boxes are 

 usually the pro- 

 duct of factories 

 which make 

 nothing else. 

 Some of the 

 boxes are of 

 solid cedar, but 

 most of them 



consist of thin sheets of this wood glued upon thin 

 boards of tupelo, yellow poplar, red gum, or basswood. 

 The cheaper grades of cigar boxes are of imitation 

 cedar, that is, other woods stained or printed to look 

 like cedar. A few costly woods are listed in the tobacco 

 box industry, among such being mahogany, rosewood, 

 and Circassian walnut. They are for fine cigar boxes 

 and cost is a matter of minor importance in consideration 

 of the high sales price. 



How widely the box industry is dispersed is shown 



THE EGG CRATE'S PECULIAR PLACE 



More planning is put into the manufacture of 

 an egg crate than into most other shipping con- 

 tainers, because its value depends wholly upon 

 its ability to deliver the goods undamaged. 

 Kggs break easily. Crates have been devised 

 for this particular line of shipping, and competi- 

 tion is keen among makers. 



