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



defects are permitted if they do not interfere with the soundness of 

 the stock. Discolored material can therefore be used. The trunk- 

 box is nailed together and the nails are placed very closely. Even 

 the thin pieces making up the trunk tray are usually fastened to- 

 gether by nailing. The trunk box is covered by an outer and an 

 inner layer of fiber glued to the plywood, which protects the wood 

 and adds to the appearance of the trunk. When the trunk is made 

 of one thickness of wood throughout, boards, generally three-eighths 

 or seven-sixteenths of an inch in thickness, are matched by means of 

 tongue-and-groove along the sides. 



Sample cases are often constructed like trunks and made of bass- 

 wood. White pine is said to make a fairly satisfactorily trunk box, 

 but splits more readily than basswood. It is said that yellow poplar 

 makes too heavy a box, and cottonwood is hard to work and does 

 not hold its shape well. Factories making the solid boxes usually 

 purchase inch lumber and resaw it. They may buy low-grade lumber 

 and cut out the suitable stock, or, they may find it advantageous to 

 purchase log run and utilize the various grades. Makers of plywood 

 trunks generally buy the sheets of plywood already glued up. Veneer 

 plants making plywood for trunks use fairly clear logs 10 inches and 

 up in diameter, which they cut into lengths of about 4 feet. The 

 cores left after cutting the veneer can be profitably used by such 

 factories for making high-grade cabinet panels, since basswood is an 

 excellent core wood for such panels. 



Wisconsin and Ohio use the largest quantities of basswood in the 

 manufacture of trunks, followed by New York, Illinois, Michigan, 

 and Pennsylvania. 



It is not likely that basswood will be replaced by other woods in 

 trunk manufacture until its extreme scarcity makes this necessary. 

 Large quantities of southern pine, usually the softer grades, are used 

 for low-priced trunks. To some extent, trunk makers are using red- 

 gum plywood, which they are able to make thinner than the bass- 

 wood because of its greater strength. By making it into plywood 

 the natural warping of red gum is very largely overcome. 



PICTURE FRAMES AND MOLDING. 



Basswood was formerly the principal wood used for picture frames 

 and molding, because it works well with tools, finishes well, holds its 

 shape, and is well adapted for the highly decorative composition and 

 gilt work which was very much in demand until recently. However, 

 the demand is now very largely for embossed work. In embossing, 

 the tool, which is usually a heavy metal disc, is forced into the wood 

 while hot and leaves an imprint. Basswood exhibits a certain amount 

 of sponginess under this treatment, the wood rising where the im- 

 print is made, so that it is not satisfactory for the purpose. For this 



