The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1899-09-01
BARREL HOOP POLES
"A MAINE WOODS INDUSTRY WHICH
GIVES WORK TO 1000 MEN.

| AHoNIuentlal Arrangement Which
Caused the Gray Birch and the
Gray Northern Hare to Occupy the
Same Belts of Forest Lands.
| 1t was a provid entail advancement
that caused the gray birch and the gray
Northern hare to occupy the same belts
?t forest lands along the sides of the
oleak New England hills They grew
and fourished together for centuries.
and were in fair way to monopolize
the whole territory when the squat and
multltudinous French voyageurs came
over from Montreal and destroyed the
.Dalance of power BY SHARING aud eating
the rabbits, thereby gaining ability to
iced more children who grew up and
invaded the factory towns, cutting
down the rate of wages to the level of
colored labor in the South After the
rabbits grew scarce the gray birches
mad there own way for score of years
when, all the swamp ash having been
cut off and sold, somebody discovered
that gray birches made good hoop
poles, since which time thousands of
poor men have masie living wages cut
ting and shaving hoops for the cuopers.
though a considerable number of
men hunt for hoops in western Massa-
chusetts and northern New York. this
industry finds more followers and bet
ter rewards in Maine than in any other
State. Enough brown ash and gray
and white birch saplings are cut, split.
shaved and bundled in Maine every
winter to put hoop around the earth
at the equator, and to allow a lap of r.
OO0 miles for the purpose of completing
the locks. Hoops are shaved in diff
terent lengths, according to the size of
the casks or barrels which they are
intended to encompass. The smallest.
which are put about nail kegs. are 4
to AZ feet long, and sell for Is cents to
81 for thousand. The largest, which
are made for sugar barrels and large
fish casks, are of brown ash. shaved
broad and fiat and having a length of
~ feet. These when green and flexi-
Bile sell readily for $175 by the thou
sand Between these are intermediate
lengths of SIC and 612 feet.
According to the estimates of well
informed dealers, whose opinions are
lndorsed by the reports of the last CEN
sus, more than 100000 hoops are
shaved and sold in Maine every wear.
Allowing 51s feet cor the length Of an
average hoop, and putting the circum-
ference OF the earth at 1872 900. 600 feet.
1t would take about 24,000,000 hoops to
place girdle about the globe at its
largest diameter. The average price
paid by hoop buyers is $125 for 1000,
so the total gross income from Names
hoop poles is about $4,000 year.
1t requires the labor of about 1000
men for several weeks to earn the
above amount of money. If they were
all put together they would form two
full regiments of troops, or about twice
as many as were put under arms in
Maine for the purpose of driving Spain
from the Western hemisphere, and
their joint labors in cutting bushes
would clear up tract of land as big as
Knox county and fit it for ploughing.
Though an area as big as the whole
State of Maine is cut over every twenty
years for the purpose of getting hoops.
there is probably more hoop pole stock
growing in Maine to-day than at any
, previous time.
Before Columbus discovered Ameri-
ca the woods Of Maine contained a
million deer and possibly a billion rab-
bits, all of which subsisted upon the
sprouts of the gray and white birch
keeping these prolific trees down to re-
stricted areas. When the English and
/ French came with firearms and wire
snares the animals were killed to fur
nish food for the settlers. This Destroy
ed the natural balance and the birches
spread everywhere and promised to
monopolize New England until the
hoop pole hunter came and restored the
equilibrium.
1t requires but little capital to start
in the hoop pole business. A man who
owns yoke of steers or an old horse
or bull can easily haul the round
! poles from the woods. A shanty of
| boards or lean-to of brush makes an
> excellent shelter in which to do the
shaving. The hoops are split by pull
ing them through slot against the
edge of sharp knife fixed firmly in the
top of a wooden block After this the
hoops are nipped in the grip of a shay
! ing horse and worked into proper form
with draw shave. An Industrious
man can cut and haul 1000 poles in a
! day. These, when split, will make A.
900 hoops, which will require two days
work to shave and bundle. BY work.
| ing three days an average man may
earn IS, which is good wages when salt
pork is cents pound and good flour
less than SIS a barrel.
! The hoop poles Of Maine furnish en-
! ployment to more than 1000 men at a
time, when money is scarce and work
/ is hard to obtain. and the money
] earned through marketing these hoop
poles supplies food for fully 5000 hun
! cry mouths.