SELLING WOODLOT PRODUCTS ON MICHIGAN FARMS. 23 



pecks, and short bolts will be classed as culls. Bolts with five to ten 

 straight worm holes will be accepted. 



For slack barrel cooperage the specifications are similar, but not so 

 severe. For example, the stave bolts do not have to be quartered, as they 

 do for tight barrel cooperage, for which the staves must be straight 

 grained. Cross grained or twisted grained bolts are acceptable for slack 

 stave and heading manufacture, unless the defect is sufficient to weaken 

 the product materially. Bolts containing sound knots, bird pecks, sap 

 stain, and other minor defects, which would cause their rejection for 

 tight barrel staves and headings, are accepted for slack cooperage. 



Slack cooperage establishments turn out large quantities of lime, 

 cement, apple, potato, and other fruit and vegetable barrels, butter tubs, 

 etc. In order of the amounts used the species made into staves in 1912* 

 were pine, beech, elm, maple, birch, basswood, spruce, ash, oak, cotton- 

 wood, tamarack, hemlock, and balsam fir. The species used for heading, 

 also in order of amounts used, were pine, beech, basswood, maple, cotton- 

 wood, elm, ash, birch, oak, hemlock, chestnut, sycamore. For hoops, the 

 species used were elm (95 per cent), beech, ash, oak, maple, and bass- 

 wood. Head linings — ^thin strips used to hold the heading in place — 

 were mostly of elm, rock elm being preferred. 



Railroad Ties 



The demand for ties fluctuates considerably, but there are usually 

 standard prices offered which are much the same for the different roads. 

 Many different species are used, including white oak, walnut, and cherry. 

 For these valuable species better prices can ordinarily be obtained for 

 some other use; but when the logs are knotty and crooked no other 

 use may be possible. The hearts of logs, which contain the lower grades 

 of lumber, can often be utilized for this purpose, although it is question- 

 able whether the value would not be greater in low grade lumber than 

 in ties. 



Regular No. 1 ties are 8 feet long, 8 inches wide, and 6 inches thick. 

 The ties used on the Lake Shore Railroad are 8% feet long, 9 inches 

 wide, and 7 inches thick. Switch ties are 7 by 9 inches in end dimensions 

 and of different lengths. The requirements of the company and the 

 prices paid should be ascertained before a sale is made or the timber is 

 cut. The best prices are those paid for white oak ties, which are used 

 by the railroad without preservative treatment, and ordinarily bring 

 from 55 to 60 cents apiece when cut to standard specifications and de- 

 livered along the right-of-way. "Treatment ties" are mostly of beech, 

 birch, hard maple, and tamarack. Before using they are treated with 

 a wood preservative. No. 1 treatment ties, hardwood, brought in 1914 

 about 48 cents apiece; No. 2 ties, hardwood and tamarack, for use on 

 side tracks, brought about 38 cents. 



Quantities of white cedar ties are bought by railroads in the northern 

 part of the State. The Northwestern Cedarmen's Association specifica- 

 tions for 1912 require that "a standard tie shall be 6-inch face and wider, 

 12 inches from small end, 6 inches thick and 8 feet long, sawed ends. Ties 

 made different from these specifications shall be regarded as special 

 contracts." 



*"Wood-ustag Industries of Michigan," by Hu Maxwell; 1912. Published by the State of Michigan 

 In cooperation with the Forest Service. 



