COOPEES WORK. 



143 



The side-staves should he broadest at then- centres and taper 

 off towards their ends, in order to allow for the bulging of the 

 casks ; they should, however, be somewhat thick again at their 

 ends, as a notch has to 



be cut there to admit ^'^" ' 



the head-pieces. The 

 two broadest staves are 

 that on which the cask 

 rests, and the opposite 

 one in which the bung 

 is inserted. The best 

 wood is used for these 

 two staves. From three 

 to five head-pieces are used at either end of a cask, being dove- 

 tailed together. The tops and bottoms of small casks are flat, 

 but in larger ones they are somewhat curved inwards, in order 

 better to withstand the pressure of the liquid inside. 



Wood for staves is usually cloven in the forest by special 

 artificers, and straight-grained, light and sound wood, free from 



The divider. (After Boppe.) 



Method of splitting wood for cask staves. (After Boppe.) 



knots and other defects, is employed. It must be strong, and 

 yet pliable and easily cloven ; it is split with a special instru- 

 ment, termed a divider (fig. 41), in the radial direction, so that 

 the silver-grain is visible on the broad surface of the staves, as 

 the wood is least permeable in the direction at right angles to 

 this. AYhether, or not, wine leaks out of casks appears to depend 

 on the size of the pores, for it finds its way into the anatomical 

 wood-vessels and oozes out at the ends of the staves. 



