THE USES OF WOOD 



1209 



A LABORATORY BARREL TEST 



The pressure is applied within and the amount of it is recorded for future reference. 

 When the force becomes too great for the strength of the wood, the staves are forced 

 apart or they break, or the head gives way, or the hoops may break and the barrel 

 go to smash, which of course puts an end to the test. 



one of them alone. The three parts are often brought 

 together by the user who assembles them as the barrels 

 are needed ; but not infrequently a single factory turns 

 out finished barrels which are then distributed to the 

 users. The woods for the three parts are not always 

 interchangeable. Heading woods may not be satisfactory 

 for staves ; that for staves may be objectionable for head- 

 ing; while hoop woods are not wanted for heading or 

 staves. Steel is being substituted for wood in 

 cooperage, there being steel barrels without a par- 

 ticle of wood ; but the most common substitution 

 is wire or strap metal for hoops. 



In the year 1909 there were in the United 

 States 1,506 establishments producing slack coop- 

 erage. They manufactured 2,029,548,000 staves, 

 140,234,000 sets of heading, and 375,793,000 

 hoops. Usually sixteen slack staves, two sets of 

 heading, and from four to eight hoops make a 

 barrel, but great variation occurs in different 

 kinds of barrels and kegs. The values in the 

 United States in 1900 were, staves, $11,477,399; 

 heading, $6,138,881 ; hoops, $2,578,845. The 

 following list shows the woods from which the 

 slack staves were made, and the number made 

 from each : 



Red gum, 416,570,000; pine, 306,621,000; 

 beech, 268,237,000; elm, 245,172,000; maple, 

 1 33.255,ooo; chestnut, 93,290,000; birch, 78,897,- 

 000; basswood, 72,537,000; spruce, 72,219,000; 

 ash, 71,705,000; oak, 66,675,000; cottonwood, 

 66,260,000; tamarack, 28,832,000; cypress, 25,- 

 673,000; tupelo, 22,500,000; sycamore, 17,831,- 

 000; hemlock, 10,376,000; cedar, 9,410,000; yel- 



low poplar, 7,851,000; balsam, 6,037,000; Doug- 

 las fir, 5,165,000; willow, 3,287,000; all other, 

 1,128,000; total, 2,029,548,000. 



Room exists for considerable choice of wood 

 for staves in slack cooperage, but not so much 

 for containers of liquids. Flour barrels were 

 once made principally of cottonwood staves, but 

 elm has proved to be a good substitute. A white 

 wood that presents a clean appearance is wanted, 

 and it must be tough enough and strong enough 

 to carry the load. It must be free from odor or 

 taste that might injure the contents. The sugar 

 barrel demands material of the same kind. 



Red gum leads all other woods because it is 

 abundant and satisfactory. The shippers of but- 

 ter, lard, meat, and other food products select 

 the most suitable woods for their barrels. Custom 

 has much to do with it, but not all ; for it is 

 easy to understand that a pine barrel might taint 

 food with the taste of turpentine. The hard- 

 woods are demanded in three times the number 

 for slack barrels as are the softwoods ; yet many 

 commodities go to market in softwood barrels 

 and kegs. Scrub pine is used for nail kegs and 

 for containers of other small hardware. Timber 

 which is fit for little else, and poles only a few 

 inches in diameter, are sawed into staves. 



All of the stave woods listed above are likewise used 

 for heading, except cypress ; but pine heading is con- 

 sumed in twice the amount of any other, and beech stands 

 second, with red gum third. The heads of various sizes 

 are cut with special machines. Slabs from sawmills, are 

 cut in rather large quantities into heading, and by com- 

 bining a slack cooperage operation with lumber pro- 



HARD BUMPS IN PROSPECT 



This test was made at Madison, Wisconsin, by the Government, the purpose being 

 to determine how much tumbling and bumping a filled barrel will stand before it 

 bursts. Barrels get such treatment as this while being loaded and unloaded in the 

 process of transportation by wagons, boats, steam trains and other methods. 



