UTILIZATION OF BASSWOOD. 57 
each of the years 1906, 1907, and 1909 the total amount of basswood 
lumber cut was about 400,000,000 board feet. At present the total 
annual use of basswood for all purposes probably does not exceed 
250.000,000 board feet. The total stand of basswood timber is esti- 
mated to be about 9,000,000,000 board feet. 
Basswood is valued mainly for its light color, light weight, and 
good working and seasoning qualities, and because it shows printing 
to advantage. It is used mainly for wooden containers and utensils 
which come in contact with food, including boxes, barrels, pails, 
tubs, and kitchen woodenware. Cabinetwork and inside finish of 
buildings are also important uses. 
Kaw material is used in the form of the log, bolt, and lumber. 
Logs are used for the production of veneer, which is made into ply- 
wood for trunks, furniture, and other cabinetwork. Logs are also 
converted into veneer for cheese boxes. Basswood in the log is used 
for the manufacture of matches by the veneer process. Logs are 
also used in large quantities for making pails, tubs, and slack-barrel 
heading. The bolts are used mainly for conversion into excelsior 
and pulp wood. The principal uses in the form of lumber are for 
boxes, inside finish, apiarists' supplies, laundry appliances, and toys. 
Its most exacting use is for honey sections to hold comb honey, for 
which purpose a white wood is required. Basswood is an ideal wood 
for candy pails and cracker and candy boxes, because of its clean ap- 
pearance and light weight and because it does not taint substances 
in contact with it. Its light color also makes it very much in demand 
for flour-barrel heading, cheese boxes, excelsior, pulpwood, and laun- 
dry appliances, including mainly washboards and ironing boards. 
Its lightness and good seasoning and gluing qualities make it an 
excellent core wood, producing a strong, light panel. Because of 
these properties it is the preferred wood for trunks. 
Basswood generally finds a ready market in the form of the log or 
bolt, or as lumber. For the small timber owner the log and bolt are 
the most advantageous forms for marketing. Large, clear, high- 
grade logs bring the best prices when sold for conversion into veneer. 
Small and low-grade logs and bolts can be disposed of most profitably 
to woodenware and slack-cooperage factories. Clear, small-dimen- 
sion stock can be sold to best advantage to excelsior and pulpwood 
plants. It is desirable to obtain information on prices, specifica- 
tions, and methods of measurement from prospective purchasers 
before the standing timber is converted into marketable form. 
Since basswood reproduces easily and increases in size rapidly in 
situations favorable for the growth of the tree, and since the timber 
is readily marketable in various forms, owners of land suitable mainly 
for timber production in the basswod region will find it advantageous 
to encourage the growth of this species. 
