Solid Wood Products 2647 



be contaminated in odor and taste by the wood of such boxes. Davis (1934) 

 ranked 1 1 southern hardwoods according to the odor and taste they imparted to 

 butter as follows (the best at top left and the poorest at bottom right): 



Ash Sycamore Elm Sweetgum (heartwood) 



Soft maple Beech Black tupelo Magnolia 



Hackberry Yellow-poplar Cottonwood 



TIGHT COOPERAGE 



In the early 1900's, roundwood used in the manufacture of barrels, kegs, 

 pails, and tubs made of wood staves totalled about 1.8 billion board feet annual- 

 ly — about 40 percent in tight cooperage and 60 percent in slack cooperage (fig. 

 29-20). Since then, new technology, changes in consumer buying habits, and 

 new packaging techniques have sharply reduced demands for cooperage. By 

 1976, consumption had dropped to 94 million board feet, mostly for tight 

 cooperage. Over half the tight cooperage was used for bourbon barrels, with the 

 remainder used for chemical and other containers. The slack cooperage was 

 mainly used for barrels to contain food and hardware. Future demands for 

 cooperage logs and bolts are expected to remain close to the level of the early 

 1970's at about 100 million board feet. 



White oak is the premium species for bourbon barrels. Comparison of the 

 tyloses plugged vessels of white oak (fig. 5-22) with the open vessels of southern 

 red oak (fig. 5-39) make it clear why white oak is favored for tight cooperage. 

 Because white oak staves for bourbon barrels typically come from high-quality 

 trees of large size (fig. 27-20), their manufacture from pine-site hardwoods is 

 not a major activity. 



Readers interested in the technology of manufacturing tight cooperage are 

 referred to the following publications: 



Subject Reference 



Woods used in tight cooperage Wagner (1949) 



Production of barrels Grant (1950) 



Performance of laminated and solid staves 



in white oak tight cooperage Kurtenacker and Patrick (1948) 



Manufacture of tight plywood cooperage E. G. Stem (1947a) 



VENEER CONTAINERS 



Veneer baskets. — A few small operations convert sweetgum, black tupelo, 

 and Cottonwood into veneer baskets ranging in size from 2-quart capacity to the 

 traditional bushel basket. They are used to ship vegetables and fruit. To make the 

 baskets, bolts are first conditioned by steaming, then debarked, rotary-peeled 

 into veneer, and the veneer clipped to width. While still warm and flexible, the 

 veneer strips are assembled into flat radially-oriented wagon-wheel-shape pat- 

 terns; these flat assemblies are then bent into the typical basket shape and veneer 

 hoops installed. After assembly the baskets are heated and dried so they will 

 harden and retain their bent shape. Flat covers are also fabricated from veneer 

 strips. 



