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 Xo. 2, and even Xo. 
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 
