30 BULLETIN 316, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



SLACK COOPERAGE STOCK. 



For a number of years willow has been manufactured into slack 

 cooperage stock in New Orleans and other places on the lower Mis- 

 sissippi River. It was reported in the census returns of 1907 as 

 furnishing 2,000,000 staves and 106,000 sets of headings. In 1908 

 these figures had more than doubled, being 4,485,000 and 240,000, 

 respectively. In 1909 the production dropped over 25 per cent, but 

 in 1910 it increased again, and manufacturers state that since then 

 the reduction in the supply of other woods has led to even greater 

 use of willow. Louisiana has from the beginning led in the utiliza- 

 tion of willow in slack cooperage. Most of the mills are located in 

 the vicinity of New Orleans and receive their logs from as far up the 

 river as Vicksburg. The stave mills take logs above 16 feet in length 

 and 8 inches in diameter. These logs are secured at a low cost and 

 rafted down the river. From near-by points off the river the mills 

 also bring in considerable material by rail, which is generally bolted 

 in the woods into 21-inch pieces for heading and 32-inch pieces for 

 staves. Willow cooperage is produced in two grades, No. 1 being 

 used principally for sugar, rice, and asphalt, and No. 2 for potatoes, 

 oysters, bottles, garden truck, and vegetables. The cull stock goes 



into half barrels. 



EXCELSIOR. 



Excelsior mills have been using willow for several years, those in 

 Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, and Tennessee especially. 

 The principal species used so far has been the black willow. It is 

 taken in small sizes, most of the trees being under 12 inches in diameter 

 and under 20 years in age. Trees of this size when grown close to- 

 gether furnish bolts relatively straight and free from defects. The 

 wood is also largely sap and is thus much fighter in color than could 

 be got from older and larger trees. The bolts are generally cut 4J 

 feet long in the woods and are then recut to 18 inches at the mill. 

 The unit used in measuring this wood is a rank 4 by 4 J by 8 feet. 

 Most of the willow for this purpose has been cut during the growing 

 season, because at that time the peeling can be done at low cost. In 

 Indiana the chopper cuts the bark at the base of the standing tree 

 and then strips it upward in three or four strips as far as possible. 

 After the trees are felled, the stripping is completed before the bolting 

 is done. The cost of felling by this method was not over 25 cents 

 per cord. The long hanging strips of bark are also extremely useful 

 in dropping the trees, as in thick mixed stands the trees are apt to 

 lodge. Willow cut in winter requires almost as much time for peeling 

 as for felling and bolting, and, at the present price of $2 per rank for 

 stacked, peeled, and split wood, a laborer would find it difficult to 

 make fair wages. 



