82 FOREST UTILIZATION 



The best is white pine ; next are spruce, basswood, poplar 

 and, more recently, yellow pine, hemlock, gum, cottonwood. 

 Elm and sycamore are used for special purposes. 



C. Machinery. 



A well equipped plant contains planers, resaws, rip saws, cut off 

 saws, box board matchers (which tongue and groove com- 

 posite sides), 'lock corner machine (or nailing machine or 

 dovetailing machine), sand paper machine and printing ma- 

 chine (drum pattern). 



D. Business side. 



The skill of the box maker is shown by working up, without 

 waste, the proper proportions of widths and thicknesses. 

 Careful piling of lumber in the yard, separating according to 

 width and thickness, is very essential. 



The interdependence between crop prospects and box prices is 

 easily felt by the box makers. 



For large boxes the nailed pattern is preferred, being the 

 strongest. Box shook fasteners and box strapping increase 

 the strength. 



The lock cornered box is preferred for starch, plug tobacco 

 and small boxes. Lock cornered boxes are required either 

 by the bad qualities of the lumber or by the quality of the 

 stuff packed. Locked corners demand gluing. "Bevel locked" 

 corners and "inclined locked" corners are scarcely used. The 

 dovetailed box does not require gluing. The mechanical 

 process for stamp locked corners (dovetails stamped into 

 thin boards) is not yet perfected. 



E. Expense of manufacture. 



I. The manufacture of 1,000 feet of lumber into shocks in- 

 volves a bill of $4 for labor and $i for wear and tear. 

 II. One thousand small lock cornered boxes 9x6x3 inches, 

 l /4 inch thick for frame and 3/16 inch for top and bot- 

 tom require 700 board feet of lumber worth $8.50 in 

 case of white pine; $5.10 for labor; $2.72 for glue, wear 

 and tear ; $2.50 for ten packing crates. 



XXI. BASKETS. 



A. Willow baskets. 



They are hand made, mostly from cultivated shoots of Salix 

 viminalis, amygdalina and caspica. Shoots I to 2 years old 

 are used, being cut either in fall or in spring. In the first 

 case, the bundles of shoots are kept in water over winter. The 

 shoots are peeled after the rising of the sap by being passed 

 through an iron or wooden fork; then rapidly dried to retain 

 the white color. In this condition the material may be stored 

 away for years. The shoots are bathed in water before weav- 

 ing to restore flexibility and toughness. The bottom of the 

 basket is made first, and then, frequently with the help of a 



