The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-08-16
THE HOOP-POLE INDUSTRY.
TALK WITH A MAN WHO MADE
MONEY FOLLOWING 1T.
wheat. But His Principal Crop Was
HoOp-PoIes, All of Which Goes to
Prove That There Is More Than One
Way to Make a Good Living.

ting a living in this world, said a
farmer from Ulster county to a re-
porter of the New York Times. What
do you suppose l am going TO New York
for at this time of the year when far
mers should be harvesting their crops?''
He answered the question himself
saying:
Well 1 am farmer. but not in the
general acceptance Of the word. | raise
potatoes and corn enough for my fam
lily use and buckwheat for f1apjacks,
but my principal crop is hoop poles. and
they are now all harvested, split and
shaved into barrel hoops and ready for
the market. l am going to New York
to sell my annual CROP
Asked to give a general description of
the hoop-pole industry. the farmer said:
The mountains, swamps and uplands
Of Ulster, Sullivan, Greene and Delaware
counties were formerly covered with a
dense growth of hard wood. mainly
hickory, white, red and rock oaks, pig
nut and ash. This has been cut off for
many years, and in its stead there has
sprung up dense growth of saplings.
mostly growing from the old stumps,
some stumps producing as many as
twenty or thirty lusty' straightforward
saplings.
pole stock. They are cut generally in
the months of October and November
after all other farm work is finished,
and piled and stacked up in the hoop
pole woods. All saplings from twelve
up to thirty feet in length are cut, some
often furnishing two poles for hoops of
different lengths.
AT the first fall of snow these poles,
yet green and full of sap. are hauled on
sleds to the barnyards. where they are
cut into lengths and split into strips,
poles furnishing two hoops and often as
many as five. These are then taken
under the long sheds which you find in
every farmyard. where the shaVers are
at work. y fiat bench called a horse
with clamp worked by a treadle and
called head, and a draw-Knfe fur
nishes the outfit of each shaver The
rough hoop just as il is split. from the
pole is laid fiat on the horse and shaved
while it is held firm under the head.
As il is shaved by draw-knife an arms
length, it is showed further along under
the head until its whole length is
shaved.
THE shaved hoops are then sorted and
bound into bundles of 100. being tied at
three parts of their length They are
then ready for the market, but generally
do not reach there for some months,
as each farmer who shaves hoops keeps
his stock for the most favorable prices,
or till navigation in the Hudson opens.
The best hoops are the hickory and
p1gnut. These are used for apple, pork,
vinegar and beef barrels. kegs. and other
Glasses Of fine COOperage. The oak hoops
which are generally shaved at full
length, are used to strap packing boxes,
and are also of good quality. Hoops of
mountain ash, which are not only shaved
but stripped into what is known as
'strapping,' are mainly used for butter
tubs, firlins, and -four and sugar bar
q dc of oil rsra.1- IL
as the are sometimes called. are mainly
used about Kingston and Rosendale in
hopping cement and lime barrels.
another class of hoops, short and
srnooth-shaveC from chestnut sprouts
are used only TO bind powder kegs. They
are generally shaved to order and are
sold only TO the gunpowder mills and
contractors who make kegs for them.
AS TO price, the shaved hoops range
from 80 cents a bunch for cement and
bunch for heavy hickory and oak straps
for pocking boxes. There isn't so much
demand now. however. for hoops of the
strap class. as band iron has taken their
place.
II have a bargeload of hoops on the
way TO New York now which I shall
find a ready market for as soon as / ar
rive There is something over 5000
punches and they will net me nearly or
over $4,000. They represent a portion of
my own work last winter and that of
several of my neighbors. As you must
know L am somewhat Of a Spectator
and buy up hoops for the market and
have so far this season sent over 10000
punches to the market
Where shall I sell them? Well the
packing-bOx trade about Duane, Hudson.
Franklin and other streets in the dry
goods district will take all my straps
The barrel. tub and key hoops | will sell
in Williamsburg among the cooperage
establishments there. l may be for
tunate enough to sell all my hoops to
one party upon my arrival, but il will
take me only a few hours to dispose of
them all, at any rate. Next week will
probably have couple more canalbaots
loaded with another shipment.
Where do most of my hoops come
from? Well, get most of those I buy
along the line Of the Delaware and Hud-
son canal. Then | buy them I'M throuqb
the valleys of the Roundout, the Never
sink and the Beaverkill. Sometimes I
take trips up the Erie railroad into the
| Mongaup valley and to Sparrowbush.
but / get most of my hoops in Ulster
A great many come from the towns Of
Rochester, Marbletown. Wanvarsing and
Olive. and from the mountains of Wood
stock, Denning and Shandaken. l sell
| thousands OF hoops to the cement and
lime companies about Kingston and
Rosendale that never see the New York
market"
"Do you know Of any one who ever
got rich in the hoop trader" asked the
reporter.
"WellT' said the old man, I'm pretty
comfortable myself. Then there was a
man in Kingston named Hiram Davis
who has been dead for several years who
| left a family Of children all we'll off.
Hiram made most OF his money out of
the hoop and heading trade and in
spite OF the fact that he gave large sums
to the church and charity, he died we'll
Off Had he been as close a dealer as
some men know of he could have been
worth a million, but Hiram was honest.
dead honest"
The old man then said: Young man.
II matters little what business man is
I'm in this country as long as he has a
good reputation and attends To his own
affairs. If he attends strictly to his bus
mess, deals square. is honest and not
| improvident, he can gain a competence
even in shaving hoops. My boys have
both been given good educations, but
| they are both in the same business
that / am. They have nice homes and
are not proud.
'"They think with their dad. that il
| is better to be a good Judge of hoop
| poles and have an eye to business than
1t Is to be an unsuccessful lawyer or
savings bank president with a hank
| ering for fast horses.
Vanderbtlfs Marble Tennis Court.
The most clsI....ate as we'll as the
| most expensive lawn tennis court in the
| word ~ now N Process IF c, llsIII ction
| at Mr.. George Nan..erb!Is's vlgd in
AsheVilic G. rhe court is laid Mt