140 BASKET WORKS — COOPERAGE WORKS 



The lock cornered box is preferred for starch, plug tobacco and small boxes. Lock cornered boxes 

 are required either by the bad qualities of the lumber or by the quality of the stuff packed. Locked corners 

 demand gluing. "Bevel locked" corners and "inclined locked" corners are scarcely used. The dovetailed 

 box does not require gluing. The mechanical process for stamp locked corners (dovetails stamped into 

 thin boards) is not yet perfected. 



(E) EXPENSE OF MANUFACTURE: — 



\. The manufacture of 1,000 feet of lumber into shocks involves an outlay of about -^4 for labor 



and S' i for wear and tear. 

 2. One thousand small lock cornered boxes, 9" X6" X3", Vi inch thick for frame and V,c inch 



for top and bottom, require 700 board feet of lumber worth #8"50; j^5"10 for labor; --?272 for 



glue, wear and tear; -v2'50 for ten packing crates. 



PARAGRAH XXIII. 

 BASKET WORKS. 



(A) WILLOW BASKETS. They are hand or machine made, mostly from cultivated shoots of Salix 

 rubra, viminalis, amygdalina and caspica. Shoots one to two years old are used, being cut either in fall or 

 in spring. In the first case, the bundles of shoots are kept in water over winter. The shoots are peeled 

 after the rising of the sap by being passed through an iron or wooden fork; then rapidly dried to retain 

 the white color. In this condition the material may be stored away for years. The shoots are bathed 

 in water before weaving to restore flexibility and toughness. The bottom of the basket is made first, and 

 then, frequently with the help of a model, the standards or uprights of the wall are fixed. 



(B) WOODEN BASKETS. They are used for picking and transportation of bulky farm produce. 

 Sizes '/a bushel to 2 bushels. 



I. The hand made basket consists of thin strips split and shaved from basket oak and white oak 

 (sapwood); also from spruce. 



II. The Briggs stave basket consists of radial ribs cut from 2V4-inch oak planks; cross cut into 

 lengths varying from 12Vs inches for '/.' bushel to 18 inches for 2 bushel baskets. The ribs are jointed and 

 pointed to an exact fit for a round center plate and then bent over a model form having grooves indicating 

 the proper position for each rib and for the strong elm hoop clasped around the rim. 



III. The common wood basket is made of straight long ribs up to Vi inch thick, cut on a rotary 

 veneer machine. No center piece, no pointing and no jointing are required. The ribs are bent over a 

 model form. A workman is said to make about 300 baskets in a day. 



PARAGRAPH XXIV. 



COOPERAGE WORKS. 



(A) TERMINOLOGY:- 



1. "Slack" cooperage deals with barrels for lime, vegetables, cement, salt, nails, crockery, sugar, 

 flour, &c. 



2. "Tight" cooperage deals with barrels for liquids and for meat (pork) 



(B) MATERIAL USED. Any species may be used for slack cooperage. Alcoholic liquors must be 

 cased in white oak (Quercus alba, michauxii, prinus, macrocarpa, minor &c.). Red oak will not hold 

 whisky, but is used for oil staves, flour barrel heading, sawn and coiled hoops. 



White ash is used for pork staves and butter tubs. 



