196 Proceedings of the 



It may be news to many of those within the sound 

 of my voice that grades of white oak, which are wel- 

 comed by the furniture factories of Grand Rapids and 

 elsewhere for furniture making, would be rejected 

 by the maker of the whiskey barrel, and that 

 elm, suitable for the interior finish of a luxurious 

 home, would not always do for a Minneapolis flour 

 barrel. We of the cooperage fraternity are both 

 finicky and fastidious; but it is earnestly to be hoped 

 that under the operation and influence of this Associa- 

 tion the Bureau of Forestry, or the legislation which 

 will follow their joint recommendations, some of this 

 fastidiousness may be taken out of us. 



As far back as I have any knowledge, white oak has 

 been, and it is to-day, the chief dependence of the 

 tight barrel cooper. I mean those who manufacture 

 barrels for whiskey, wine, oil, alcohol, turpentine, and 

 other liquids. All of these seem to demand and require 

 white oak of the finest grade, and the part of the tree 

 which they deem fit for their purpose is its least part. 



The greater part, up to recent years, has been thrown 

 aside to rot and breed a very destructive species of 

 worm, or else has been thrown into heaps and burned. 

 I feel that I am well within the bounds of truth and 

 reason when I say that if all the white oak which has 

 been wasted during the past fifty years could have been 

 saved and sold at its present value, it would have been 

 enough to pay for the Panama Canal, or possibly pay 

 off the national debt. 



There are other woods used by the tight-barrel 

 maker for such semi-liquid products as syrup, glucose, 

 lard, pork, etc., and these woods include cypress, red 

 oak, and latterly, red gum. Chestnut has never been 

 made much use of in this country, although it is used 

 extensively for olive oils in Italy, as well as in the wine 



