UTILIZATION OF BASSWOOD. 



27 



preferred above all other woods for flour-barrel headings, because of 

 its clean appearance. It makes a fairly tight barrel, because of its 

 freedom from warping. Basswood is superior to yellow poplar for 

 this purpose, because the latter wood is more liable to split. The 

 best, or No. 1, heading for such barrels is usually of basswood. It is 

 often used with cottonwood staves, and these two woods make a 

 very clean and attractive-looking barrel. 



Table 16 gives quantities and value of basswood heading produced 

 in the years 1906 to 1911, inclusive, and in 1919, as reported by the 

 Bureau of the Census, and in 1918 as reported by the Forest Service. 

 There has been a large reduction in the amount of basswood used for 

 heading in recent years, which can be ascribed to the scarcity and high 

 price of the stumpage of this timber. Wisconsin, Michigan, and Min- 

 nesota have reported the largest quantities. Nearly all of that re- 

 ported in 1919 was manufactured in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The 

 production of basswood staves and hoops is also given in Table 16 for 

 years in which it was reported for these purposes. Its use for staves 

 and hoops in former years was due to its plentifulness rather than to 

 its particular adaptability for these products, and in the industry it 

 is now confined to heading alone. Cooperage manufacturers in the 

 Lake States generally purchase the timber in the form of stumpage 

 and in mixture with other species, such as beech, birch, and maple. 

 Such timber in Minnesota has recently been purchased by cooperage 

 firms for $8 or $9 per acre. 



Table 16. — Production of basswood slack-cooperage stock and value for different years. 





Heading. 



Staves. 



Hoops. 



Year. 



Number 

 (thou- 

 sand 



sets). 



Value 

 per 1,000 



sets. 



Rank. 



Number 

 (thou- 

 sands). 



Value 

 per 1,000. 



Rank. 



Number 

 (thou- 

 sands). 



Average 



value 

 per 1,000. 



1906 



15, 653 

 9,585 

 10,186 

 13, 910 

 18,000 

 10, 014 

 2,251 

 3,078 



$47. 11 

 59.65 

 60.04 

 55.84 

 ( 2 ) 

 ( 2 ) 

 ( 2 ) 

 (■) 



4 

 5 



5 

 4 



8,307 

 18, 640 



6,306 

 72, 537 



$5.31 

 7.00 

 5.63 

 5.48 



12 

 12 

 15 



8 



| 



1907 





1908 









1909 



30 



$7.00 



1910 





1911 















1918 



6 

 6 









1 



1919 



















1 



i Approximate. 



2 Data not obtained. 



