Comparison of Woods for Butter Boxes

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA
COMPARISON OF WOODS FOR BUTTER BOXES
By G. D. TURNBOW
Proper method of packing cartoned butter in 60-pound boxes
BULLETIN No. 369 August, 1923
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY 1923

by G. D. TURNBOW
Butter boxes used in shipping and storing butter in California, are usually made of spruce which is largely shipped in from other states particularly from Washington and Oregon.
With the recent war, however, there came an acute shortage of spruce on the Pacific Coast with a corresponding increase in price. The commercial manufacturers did some work in an attempt to find a substitute for spruce, but the trade did not readily accept a change. There was a demand from both the lumber and the butter interests for investigation to find a suitable substitute for spruce.
The production of spruce is somewhat limited in California, but there is an abundance of white fir and a limited amount of cottonwood available. However, the creamerymen have not used white fir and cottonwood to any extent for butter containers, on account of the belief that these materials would impart a wood flavor to the butter.