66 OSIERS AND WILLOWS 



Peeling Buff 



The boiling process not only gives the rods a pleasing 

 colour, but also prepares the skin for peeling, which is 

 usually done by women or boys. The skin may be 

 removed by the hand alone or with the help of breaks. 



(a) By the hand alone. The peelers stand on either 

 side of the tank and strip the rods whilst they are still 

 hot. They commence by gently forcing the skin back 

 from the butt end for an inch or more, so that it forms 

 a kind of rosette around the rod. The rod is then 

 reversed, the kin pressed by the fingers and thumb, and 

 the rod pulled by the butt end with the other hand. 

 The skin is left in the one hand, and the rod comes 

 away clear, free from all bark, and quite unbruised in 

 any way. This process of peeling certainly leaves the 

 rods in an excellent condition. 



(b) By the aid of breaks. (i) Some growers of exclu- 

 sively small material use a forked hand-break, made 

 either of a hard wood or iron, something like a tuning 

 fork. The peeler, holding about six rods in her hand, 

 uses the break to release the bark at the butt ends and 

 to force it back as before to form rosettes around the 

 rods. The rosettes of skin are then gripped with the 

 left hand and the rods drawn through with the other 

 hand. This process entirely strips the rods of their 

 skin, and several are drawn at a time. 



(2) When the rods have been graded before boiling, so 

 that they are of even size, a more expeditious method 

 may be employed. Two pieces of wood, the bottom 

 fixed, and the top hinged at the end of the bottom one 

 and worked by a spring suspended from above, are used 

 to form a break. Both pieces of wood are fitted with a 

 strip of india-rubber about 15 in. long by | in. square. 



