UTILIZATION OF FOREST PRODUCTS l8l 



Cooperage Stock. The grades and specifications used in slack 

 cooperage are very numerous, but the forms and qualities for 

 tight-cooperage stock, including staves, hoops, and heading, are 

 much restricted. The white oaks are practically the only woods 

 used in tight-cooperage; but many different kinds of wood may 

 be made into barrels for flour, sugar, vegetables, salt, cement, 

 lime, etc. Among the chief species used for these are pine, beech, 

 elm, maple, birch, basswood, spruce, ash, oak, cottonwood, 

 tamarack, hemlock, chestnut and sycamore. For hoops the 

 chief species used are elm, beech, ash, oak, maple and basswood. 



Stock used for the manufacture of shuttles, spools and bobbins, 

 handles and vehicle parts are purchased either in logs or bolts. 



Railroad Ties. Since the average life of an untreated railroad 

 tie is only about seven years, and 3000 ties per mile of track are 

 required, there is always a market for ties, although the price 

 fluctuates somewhat. Ties are either sawed or hewed. In the 

 case of the second growth stands of chestnut and oak in southern 

 New England they are frequently hewed. In the case of large 

 oak trees it is probably more profitable to saw good logs into 

 lumber than to have them sawed into ties, but those which will 

 not make high-grade lumber can better be used for ties. About 

 33 average first class railroad ties are equivalent to 1000 board 

 feet of lumber. A No. i tie is 8 or 8 J feet long, 8 inches wide and 

 6 inches thick. Switch ties are 7 by 9 inches in end dimensions 

 and of different lengths. The best prices are paid for oak ties, 

 which are used without preservative treatment, and on the parts 

 of the track where there is the greatest strain. 



Cedar and chestnut ties are used in large quantities. " Treat- 

 ment ties" are mostly of beech, birch, hard maple and tamarack. 

 Before using they are treated with a wood preservative. 



Poles and Posts. In southern New England chestnut is the 

 chief species used for poles and posts. Red cedar and the various 

 oaks are also favorite post timbers. In northern New England 

 white cedar or arborvitae is the chief tree used for poles and posts. 

 Cedar poles cut and peeled during the late fall and winter should 

 be laid in a single layer on a pair of skids to allow them to dry 



