SLACK COOPERAGE 135 



even them off and planed. Next the croze or groove is made followed by 

 the chiming operation. The heads are set in the groove at each end and 

 the first hoops are fitted on and nailed. When used immediately one 

 head is left off until filled with apples or other contents. 



In the average small cooperage plant, coopers are paid from S to 8 

 cents apiece for the work of assembling the parts. A good cooper will 

 average 80 barrels a day. Exceptional coopers will put out from 90 to 

 100 apple barrels in a day. These barrels sell at the shop for from 35 

 to 43 cents or more per barrel, depending upon size, quality and local 

 demand. 



In the larger and more modern cooperage shops, instead of one 

 cooper doing the whole operation several men are employed and each 

 man tends a machine or looks after only one particular task. Very little 

 hand work is done. The staves are first put together in a " raiser " by 

 means of which one man will " raise " from 75 to 100 barrels in one hour. 

 The other ends of the staves are cramped together by a windlass, an 

 ingenious mechanical device operated either by power or by hand. The 

 barrel is rolled down an incline to the heater, where it remains for about 

 thirty seconds and goes on to the hoopers and trimmers, who fit the hoops, 

 trim up the ends of the staves and another machine in one revolving 

 motion cuts the bevel and groove in the staves, noted above as the chime 

 and the croze. There is a continuous progressive movement of the barrel 

 from the first to the last operation with the minimum loss of time and 

 effort. From the crozer the barrel goes to the " header," who stands 

 it on a metal base, the heads are put into position and the " rebutter " 

 forces the last hoops into place. The barrel is then ready for shipment. 



UTILIZATION OF WASTE 



The slack cooperage industry offers many opportunities for saving 

 woods waste. After logging has progressed over an area, the remaining 

 small trees, tops (crooked and otherwise) and defective logs are often 

 worked up into heading and staves, particularly the former. On many 

 operations, all 4-ft. bolts down to 8 in. in diameter at the small end are 

 taken for slack stock. 



At some of the larger hardwood sawmills, defective ends, slabs and 

 the smallest logs are sent over to a heading mill erected in connection 

 with the sawmill. 



The manufacture itself of heading, staves and hoops necessitates the 

 loss of considerable wood. In the making of staves and hoops, it is esti- 

 mated that from 40 to 50 per cent of the contents of logs are lost in the 



