SLACK COOPERAGE 117 



ufacture of heading is also centralized in Arkansas, which produces 

 annually over 15,000,000 sets of heading. Michigan, Pennsylvania, 

 Wisconsin and Virginia follow in order. The manufacture of hoops is 

 centralized in Ohio, where over 106,000,000 hoops are made annually. 

 Indiana, Michigan, Arkansas and Missouri follow in order. A few 

 decades ago the industry was of greatest importance in the Ohio Valley 

 and Lake states, but with the rapid depletion of the timber supply in 

 those regions and the consequent rise in timber values, the industry has 

 shifted to a large extent to the lower Mississippi Valley, where the cheaper 

 and more abundant red gum and yellow pine are available 



SLACK COOPERAGE VERSUS OTHER FORMS OF SHIPPING CONTAINERS 



The wide variation in the production of slack cooperage stock from 

 year to year is not surprising when so many outside influences acting 

 upon the industry and its output are taken into consideration. The 

 larger proportion of slack barrels is used for marketing agricultural 

 products. The prospect of an increase or decrease in the staple crops 

 and the resultant effect upon the industry will naturally pay the makers 

 of slack cooperage stock to gauge their output accordingly. The com- 

 petition of cheaper classes of packages, moreover, has a direct bearing 

 upon this situation. Within recent years, associations of apple growers 

 and others have made official decisions which have an important influence 

 on the output of slack barrels. The veneer barrel undoubtedly has made 

 important inroads in the old style of manufacture of slack barrels. There 

 has also been a growing tendency to market commodities in smaller con- 

 tainers such as cloth and paper bags, which are more easily handled as 

 well as being more easily marketed. It is estimated that seven-eighths of 

 all the flour made in this country is put up in cotton, jute and paper sacks 

 and but one-eighth in wooden containers. This is to be expected since 

 cotton and jute bags, counting four to the barrel, cost from 5 to 6 cents 

 each and paper sacks even less, while wooden barrels commonly cost from 

 37 to 45 cents or more, each. Other commodities sold in sacks to a rela- 

 tively less extent are sugar, salt, cement, plaster, etc. Another important 

 competitor of the slack barrel, the carton package, is used for crackers, 

 starch, cranberries and various fruits and agricultural products. 



The increased demand for slack barrels in other lines than the above, 

 however, has probably more than offset this effect of the competitive 

 packages. For example, the rapid growth of the Portland cement 

 industry has vastly increased the demand for wooden barrels. In many 

 states apple growing is becoming a leading occupation, whereas a few 



