30 BULLETIN 1007, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



It is a common practice for manufacturers to make the shipping 

 box serve as an advertisement for their products. Basswood makes 

 an attractive box, and stenciling or printing shows to good advantage 

 on the wood. White pine is the old reliable box wood, but it splits 

 more readily than basswood. Boxes for holding bottles, particu- 

 larly those containing soft drinks, are often made of basswood, because 

 holes can be bored in the wood very close together in the same piece 

 without splitting, and it holds its shape well even when alternately 

 wet and dry. 



Basswood has the disadvantage however, of discoloring, and of 

 molding and decaying readily in damp situations, and this makes it 

 unsatisfactory for many kinds of boxes. If left in contact with the 

 ground, especially if the ground is wet, basswood will soon decay. 

 For shipments which are likely to be subjected to considerable mois- 

 ture, therefore, including bottled and canned goods, basswood is not 

 altogether suitable. 



Basswood is not used in as large quantities for boxes as several 

 other woods, because of its comparative scarcity and high price. 

 Of white pine and yellow pine, the main box woods, about one billion 

 board feet each are used annually for boxes and crates, and the 

 annual consumption of basswood for the same use is probably between 

 50 million and 100 million board feet. Yellow poplar, cottonwood, 

 and several other woods are used in larger quantities for boxes than 

 basswood, because the supply of the latter wood is much less and 

 the price generally higher. It is not usually made into large packing 

 boxes, but its use is largely confined to small, special boxes where 

 the desirable qualities of the wood can be made to serve to best 

 advantage. In basswood, the lower grades, which in other species 

 make up the bulk of the box material, are unfortunately not suited 

 to the manufacture of some of the main kinds of boxes for which it 

 is valued, because of defects, such as dark and decayed streaks, which 

 are usually present in the low-grade stock. Box makers, therefore, 

 generally prefer to use other woods, such as yellow poplar, cotton- 

 wood, aspen, sap gum, and tupelo. 



Box factories prefer the No. 1 common lumber grade. On account 

 of the high price, however, they generally use No. 2, and even No. 

 3 common. Usual thicknesses of basswood lumber for boxes are 

 three-eighths, one-half, and thirteen-sixteenths of an inch. Narrow 

 widths can often be utilized. Up to a few years ago, factories in 

 Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois obtained the greater part of their bass- 

 wood from Wisconsin and Michigan. These factories now depend 

 for the most part on West Virginia for this timber. On account of 

 the more limited supplies of this wood and greatly increased freight 

 costs, the use of basswood in this section is being greatly curtailed. 

 Even box factories of Michigan and Wisconsin now find it difficult 



