Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-03-06
HOOPS.
flow Shaved Hoops Are Made In England.

HOOPS.
How Shaved Hoops Arc Made In England.
As soon as the cutters have cleared a
sufficient space. the ho%op-shed, which
is to be the center of several months
work, is begun. This edifice is notbuilt
under the influence of any capricious
inspirations; it's lines have been handed
down for centuries, from ho%op-shaver
to hoop-shaver, and its general form
may be as surely predicted as that Of
the cell of the wild bee. Its framework
is neatly put together with fork-ended
ash-poles, and the few requisite fasten-
ings are made with bent withes. The
long, open side of the shed faces the
southwest; the two sides toward the
cutting winds Of the north and north
east are roughly closed in with fagot-
wood. The roofing is a work OF time.
At first there is only the open frame
work; but as ho~op-shavings accumulate
they are cast upon 1t. In this way it
may be some weeks before the roof has
any p%retension to being water-tight.
As we approach the hoop-shed, the low
sunshine of a winter morning lights up
the loose-heaped roof of shavings and
the gray-greenness Of the oak-poles
that are left standing here and there,
whilst some slender pillars of birch
shine like white metal against the
shadowiness of the ravine behind
them. The woodland workshop, with
all that leans against it and lies
about it, has a fine intricacy of detail
that makes it a capital subject for pho
Biography. Standing in the three bays
of the open side are three of the rude,
vet sufficient, engines upon which
hoops are shaved. Each of these ON
sists OF a small slanted beam, the
s'shaving board" so poised as to be
easily movable, the slope being regu-
lated by the hoop-shaver's knee at the
one end and a weight hung from the
other. Faithful to his primitive ways,
the hoop-shaver does not use a metal
weight for his counterpois; he gets him
a big stone or heavy piece OF oak-stub.
bends q withe about it, and his need is
supplied. The three occupants of the
shed look cheerful as we glance in
upon them round the closed end. They
| are some of the few rural. laborers who
are able to count upon winters work.
Just now the boy is splitting, the an
Gent is trimming, and the chief shaver
whistles as he brings his blade down a
strip of hazel with q hiss. About these
rugged sylvan figures and their sylvan
shed there floats the wholesome sappy
smell that the green wood gives out as
it is shaved or rent. Many protective
''hulls" are necessary to this handi-
craft. The two who are using ADDE'S
wear leather gloves; and each of the
three has a ''side-patch' OF leather on
his left side, a laced half-sleeve OF
leather on his left arm, and over-knce
leggins of sheepskin. The ancient
grows saatty, and it is with a dull
twinkle in his eye that he tells us how
plentiful fur and feather are on these
lands, and how no known poacher can
hope to get work as a hoop-shaver.
"A great deal OF copsewood that falls
before the billhook is not suitable for
hoops. Alder is in this category, and
its larger stems go to the !oymakers,
heads for hay-rakes. Beech and white
beams, which are abundant on chalky
soils, are also rejected. Spindlc-wood,
which is nowhere plentiful, is reserved
for skewers; but the rural skcwcr trade
is no longer what it Il "Branchyh
pieces and the rough sprayed tops are
sorted into "pea-boughs" AMI fagot-
wood for domestic use and for the
lime-kiln. OF the many woods availa-
BILE for hoops, hazel is held in the high
est rcpute, and oak ranks next. The
various willows, ash, Spanish chestnut,
and wild cherry are also valuable.
Even the wild and guelder rose, or
''white dog-wood'' as It is called in
Surrey, comes under the h~oop-shava
The largest size Of hoop that is COM
monty made is fourteen feet long; and
between that and the smallest, two feet
in length, there are sveral intermediate
sizes. The stems are trimmed with an
adze, and the pieces taken from the
ends form part OF the ''oilal'' that is
the hoop-shaver's perquisit3. 1t is
strange how closely some of these
smooth young stems mimic the glister
Of the blind-worm and the diapers of
the snake. The next process is tho
halving Or quartering longwise, which
is done by an undulating motion Of the
adze, an operation that demands con
siderable skill. This splitting is most
easily done when the wood has been
cut for two or three months. At the
outset OF Il severe frost this part of the
work is interrupted, but after 4 weeks
continuous freezing the frost 'sdries
OUT of the wood, and it becomes
| workable.
The split pieces are now ready for
the actual shaving. The long-bladed
hoop-shave, with the donble. handlc, is
generally of local manufacture; some
are made by the country blacksmith,
Others BY south-country makers, whose
reputation has been handed down from
the days Of Wealden iron. The shaver,
with u few long sweeps of this imple-
ment, quickly shaves down his raw ma
terial into supple hoops with one side
Con which is the bark) slightly curved,
and the other side flat. Hoops were
formerly shaved on both sides, but the
consumers now prefer to have the
barked side left intact. The finished
hoops are put up in close bun0les--six-
ty going to a bundle OF the longest,
and 24O to a bundle of the shortest
kind. Most Of the hoops are sent to