126 FOREST PRODUCTS 



another, the curved sides fitting into each other. The ends of another 

 similar bundle rest on the ends of other bundles and thus the piling con- 

 tinues making a sort of crib work construction. The piles are separated 

 by a space varying from 14 to 24 in. 



Seasoning is usually carried on in open-air sheds about 20 ft. wide and 

 ico to 150 ft. in length. The piles should be elevated about 10 to 16 in. 

 from the ground and every opportunity offered to facilitate the drying 

 out of the staves. The seasoning of hardwood staves requires from one 

 to three months, depending upon the time of year. It is estimated that 

 beech, birch and maple staves 28| in. in length should weigh about 

 i Ib. apiece when properly dried. 



Just before the staves are shipped to the cooperage shop where the 

 staves, heading and hoops are assembled into barrels, they are jointed. 

 The jointing machine is brought to the staves in the dry sheds and 

 operated there either by hand or power. The hand jointer is the more 

 common form in use at the present time. The function of the jointer 

 is to shape the staves so that the finished barrel will have the required 

 bilge. Staves with a three-quarter bilge joint means that the ends of 

 the staves are f in. narrower than'the center. It is'very important that a 

 careful man and one who understands grades is employed on the jointing 

 machine. Current opinion in the trade now favors the bevel as against 

 the square joint. At each downward stroke of the knife, narrow strips 

 called listings are removed. Each stave jointer has an average capacity 

 of about 10,000 staves in a ten-hour day. 



For the purposes of shipping, staves are bundled in a' stave press 

 which is very similar to a shingle, excelsior or hay press in principle. 

 Several different types are on the market. Staves are packed with alter- 

 nating wide and narrow ones, and so arranged that about 200 in. in total 

 width, are in one bundle. This is estimated on the basis of 50 staves 

 to the bundle and that the width of the average stave is about 4 in. 

 This method of packing is standard throughout the slack cooperage 

 industry. 



The crew of the stave department in a typical cooperage mill making 

 both heading and staves of the Northern hardwoods is as follows. This 

 mill runs eleven months in the year, during which it manufactures about 

 25,000,000 staves and 600,000 to 800,000 sets of heading: 



2 men who load bolts. 



2 men in feeding steam tunnel 



1 man in pulling tunnel. 



2 ba^k peelers. 



