ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 236 



They do not feel that we have got time to work up a reputa- 

 tion for our butter in different boxes. The Australians started 

 that style of box and it is like all other packages, when it 

 gets started, they want uniformity. 



Mr. Judd : Is the Australian box white wood? 



Mr. Knight: No; it is a kind of spruce that does not grow 

 in this country. White wood is as near as we can get to it. 



A Member: Does not poplar have a peculiar oil in the 

 wood that would give a taste to the butter? Where I came 

 from poplar has a decided odor. 



Mr. Knight: Poplar is about as odorless a wood as we 

 can get. 



Mr. Tripp: Would not ash warp? 



Mr. Knight: Yes; hard wood of any kind will warp more 

 than poplar; maple, I guess, will warp more than ash, they 

 get very curly. There is another thing in regard to the ex- 

 port business in packages. I notice that Mr. Kennard, who 

 did a great deal of exjjorting from Chicago during the last 

 year, showed me some of the footings that he had regarding 

 the shrinkages in Aveight The shrinkage of weights of butter 

 packed in boxes was something startling; something enormous, 

 compared with that in tubs, and it is a very serious matter, 

 and something that we are going to meet more as we use 

 more square packages. I have not investigated the question 

 enough to know why it should be, but it was a rule right 

 straight through that the same butter packed in boxes would 

 shrink a great deal more than that packed in tubs, even though 

 they were all parchment lined, 



Mr. Judd: Is there a metal package made that is close? 



Mr. Knight: That might do in a very small way, but 

 it does not find favor anywhere that I ever knew. 



Mr, Tripp: Would not that butter shrink less if they 

 made those boxes tight, instead of just nailing them together, 

 as they do? 



Mr. Knight: I do not believe a box could be made to hold 

 the brine and keep tight. It is not like a tub. 



Mr. Tripp: You could make them, but it would cost more 

 money. 



