The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1895-07-19
CHEESE BOX MAKING.
AN EXTENSIVE INDUSTRY OF WHICH
LITTLE is KNOWN.
Half . Million Dollars Worth Of Cases
Turned Out Yearly by Expensive Ma
chinery-How the Logs Are Cooked and
Then Cut Into UnbrOken Sheets.

An idea Of the magnitude of the
cheese industry in this country is given
by the fact that the boxes in which the
cheese is shipped represent a cost Of
nearly $500, 900 annually. It is not
many years since cheese was shipped in
any kind of barrel or box which would
hold from n to half a dozen good sized
forms, packed in straw to keep them
from being bruised or broken in the
handling. 1t was only factory made
| cheese that received such protection,
while dairy cheese was sent to market
destitute of any covering other han its
own roughly bandaged rind, which in
most cases proved invulnerable. Com
petition among manufacturers has
changed all this, and at present the
manufacture Of boxes gives employment
to a large number of hands and necessi-
tates the use Of powerful and expensive
machinery.
1t was customary in the early days of
the business to saw the hoops, as the
large body Of the box is called, out Of
the log in planks about one-fifth of an
inch in thickness. The waste of materi-
al was a most serious objection to this
plan, fully so per cent Of the timber
going in sawdust. The invention of the
rotary cutting machine has prevented
this waste and at the same time pro-
duced a better hoop than the sawed arti-
Gle. The chief timber used in making
cheesebox hoops is the common swamp
elm. No other timber seems to possess
the same qualities Of lightness, tough
ness and elasticity SO requisite for
cheeseboxes as this once despised prod
uct of American forests. The logs, aft
er being cut i'll the proper lengths, gen.
orally 5 feet for an ordinary cheese
box of 1919 or 16 inches diameter, are
thrown into long watts filled with water,
where they are boiled from IL to 90
hours. The time required to soften the
timber, or cook it, as the operation is
called, varies according to the size of
the timber and the season. Large logs
require to be cooked longer than small
ones, particularly wien the logs are
frozen. 1t is not uncommon to find the
center of a log still frozen after Ii hours
of boiling.
Experience is the best guide in this
part of the business, and to know when
the timber is thoroughly cooked and not
overdone is n of the things acquired
only by constant observation. When
sufficiently boiled the logs are lifted in
iron grapples from the watts and laid on
skids, where the bark is removed. Then
a log is lifted by a crane and swung in
to place in the machine, where it is held
in a horizontal position by chucks or
dogs that center it at each end.
In this position the log revo1ves like
a roll Of paper in a printing press. The
knife which does the cutting is very
heavy and is bolted to q heavy head
called a carriage, which is fed forward
by screws toward the revolving log. In
the most approved machines the knife
has an end or oscillating as we'll as a
forward motion. This reduces the strain
on the machine and permits the cutting
Of soft, unsound and shaky hearted logs.
AS the knife comes in contact with the
timber, the inequalities of the log are
first shorn off and gradually the log be-
comes perfectly round and yields an un-
broken sheet Of lumber, like the unwind
ing Of roll Of cloth. This sheet of
wood is broken off in convenient
lengths, which are passed under divid-
ing knives that cut them into uniform
widths corresponding with the required
depth of the box.
If the boxes are to be made up at once
the hoops are bent around iron cylinders
to give them the form of the box, after
which the bottom is pressed in and
nailed in place. Comparatively few
boxes are put together in the larger
mills. In most cases the product is dried
and shipped to the cheese manufactur-
ing c%enters, where the boxes are COM
pleted. The boxes in the finished state
are too bulky for economical handling.
An ordinary freight. car will not con-
tain more than 500 complete boxes,
while 5000 can be carried if shipped in
the bale.
The remnants which are not wide
enough for hoops are used for the cover
band and for the narrow band that goes
around the bottom Of the box. The box
es vary in size both as regards depth
and diameter. The most common size
will hold a cheese of from 60 to 60
pounds. Such a box is 10 inches deep
and 151a inches in diameter. This is
the size Of cheese most in demand for
export. The size for home consumption
is S a rule much smaller and requires
a box from s to 6 inches deep, but of the
same diameter as the other.
Various kinds Of timber are used to
form the heads Of the box, but elm is
the accepted material for the hoops.
Owing to peculiarities Of the soil, the
timber in some localities is inclined to
be shaky, the checks or shakes running
around the log and following the grain
Of the timber. Such timber was useless
when the hoops were sawed, but in the
rotary process much Of it can be turned
to good account. The bulk Of the elm
timber used in this business is brought
in from Canada.
The western peninsula of Ontario ly-
ing north Of Lake Erie contained one of