30 BULLETIN 316, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
SLACK COOPERAGE STOCK. 
For a number of years willow has "been manufactured into slack 
cooperage stock in New Orleans and other places on the lower Mis- 
sissippi River. It was reported in the census returns of 1907 as 
furnishing 2,000,000 staves and 106,000 sets of headings. In 1908 
these figures had more than doubled, being 4,485,000 and 240,000, 
respectively. In 1909 the production dropped over 25 per cent, but 
in 1910 it increased again, and manufacturers state that since then 
the reduction in the supply of other woods has led to even greater 
use of willow. Louisiana has from the beginning led in the utiliza- 
tion of willow in slack cooperage. Most of the mills are located in 
the vicinity of New Orleans and receive their logs from as far up the 
river as Vicksburg. The stave mills take logs above 16 feet in length 
and 8 inches in diameter. These logs are secured at a low cost and 
rafted down the river. From near-by points off the river the mills 
also bring in considerable material by rail, which is generally bolted 
in the woods into 21-inch pieces for heading and 32-inch pieces for 
staves. Willow cooperage is produced in two grades, No. 1 being 
used principally for sugar, rice, and asphalt, and No. 2 for potatoes, 
oysters, bottles, garden truck, and vegetables. The cull stock goes 
into half barrels. 
EXCELSIOR. 
Excelsior mills have been using willow for several years, those in 
Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, and Tennessee especially. 
The principal species used so far has been the black willow. It is 
taken in small sizes, most of the trees being under 12 inches in diameter 
and under 20 years in age. Trees of this size when grown close to- 
gether furnish bolts relatively straight and free from defects. The 
wood is also largely sap and is thus much lighter in color than could 
be got from older and larger trees. The bolts are generally cut 4J 
feet long in the woods and are then recut to 18 inches at the mill. 
The unit used in measuring this wood is a rank 4 by 4 \ by 8 feet. 
Most of the willow for this purpose has been cut during the growing 
season, because at that time the peeling can be done at low cost. In 
Indiana the chopper cuts the bark at the base of the standing tree 
and then strips it upward in three or four strips as far as possible. 
After the trees are felled, the stripping is completed before the bolting 
is done. The cost of felling by this method was not over 25 cents 
per cord. The long hanging strips of bark are also extremely useful 
in dropping the trees, as in thick mixed stands the trees are apt to 
lodge. Willow cut in winter requires almost as much time for peeling 
as for felling and bolting, and, at the present price of $2 per rank for 
stacked, peeled, and split wood, a laborer would find it difficult to 
make fair wages. 
