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 cotton wood 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 ) 
( 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 
I 
1918... 
6 
6 
1919... 
1 
1 Approximate. 
2 Data not obtained. 
