WOOD-USING INDUSTRIES 



TRUNKS 



In the quantity of material entering into the manufacture- of 

 trunks, Virginia holds a most important rank among all the States. 

 Seventeen States so far have been studied for wood consumption and 

 among these the Virginia trunk makers stand first. 



A number of manufacturers do all the work from the arrival of 

 the rough timber to the covering, lining and varnishing of the com- 

 pleted trunk, but others make only the trunk boxes, and others trunk 

 slats, and ship their products to manufacturers in other States who put 

 on only the finishing touches. Loblolly and shortleaf pine being a soft 

 light wood and easily worked accounts for their being the principal 

 woods used in Virginia for trunk boxes. Yellow poplar also exten- 

 sively meets this use and is the favorite wood for trays and compart- 

 ments. These three woods compose 80 per cent of the total amount 

 shown in the table. 



Boxes made of panels built up of three-ply veneer are rapidly 

 gaining favor with the trunk makers. Sheets'of red gum with a filling 

 or a middle transverse sheet of yellow poplar or cottonwood are the 

 veneers used for panels. Soft elm met the greatest part of the demand 

 for trunk slats, though cypress and hickory also served in this capa- 

 city. Eighty per cent of the wood used by this industry was home- 

 grown. 



The Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan trunk makers use bass- 

 wood and white pine principally for trunk boxes. Much of the bass- 

 wood used is three-ply veneer. Slats are of white and cork elm,, 

 ash, and hickory. In Kentucky and Missouri, yellow pine, cypress, 

 buckeye, cottonwood, and red gum are extensively used for boxes 

 and white (soft) elm, ash, and silver maple for slats. 



TABLE 12. TRUNKS. 



