The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-03-31
THE USEFUL BARREL.
Wood For Making It Growing Scarcel
and Scarcer.

rel, and he seldom thinks of the i'm.
portant part 1t plays in many Ameri!
can industries. He never stops to
think how seriously trade would be
handicapped If the barrel supply were
suddenly to give out, or If some indi-
vidual or corporation succeeded In
cornering the barrel market. Neither
Of these things Is likely, but a mo-
ment's thought on either will serve
to convince n that the homely bar
rel is a more important factor in in
dustry than it is popularity thought to
be.
This is particularly true of the
slack barrel. In the cooperage
trade barrels are commonly CLASH
fed as tight" and SLACK" The
slack barrel is used to hold commo-
dities which are not liquid, such as
lime, salt, cement, -four, sugar,
fruit, vegetables and a great many
other articles. In many respects the
slack barrel is an ideal container for
such material. 1t is strong, durable
and easily handled. The articles
which it contains are thoroughly pro-
tected, and after being once used the
barrel may be used again and reused
for many different purposes, and,
after having served it's time as con
tainer, it has a final value as fire.
wood.
The ordinary slack barrel consists
Of some sixteen or seventeen slaves,
two heads of three pieces each, and
half a dozen hoops. No complete
|, statistics are available upon the
amount of timber annually used in
the manufacture of slack cooperage,
but reports indicate that last year
there were produced over a billion
slaves, over two hundred million sets
Of heading and more than three hun
dred million of hoops. Many wire
hoops are also used. 1t is probably
safe to say that, altogether, more
than eight hundred million board feet
of timber are used annually in the
manufacture of slack barrels in the
United States, and that If the bar
rels which are made in a single year
were stood on end, side by side, they
would cover an area of " eighty
thousand acres.
Because of its great strength and
toughness elm has long been the
) principal wood used for slaves for
high class barrels and for hoops, and
1t will be the ~favorite until the sup
ply Is exhausted. There has been a
great increase in the use Of gum
wood for slaves within the last few
years. Eastwood has always been the
preferred wood for heading because
of Its soft, even grain, but 1t, too, Is
being gradually being replaced by
gum.
The production of elm lumber in
the United States has decreased over
fifty per cent. in the last seven years.
Elm is cut most largely in the North
ern States, and particularly in Wis
consin, Indiana and Michigan, and the
exhaustion of the supply in those
States has had a most serious effect
upon the slack ~cooperage industry.
One of the prominent manufac-
turers estimates that there are not
half the slaves made in Michigan
now that there were ten years ago.
Saginaw, which used to be the prin-
cipal home of the industry, Is now
producing stock only in a small way.
and, as a matter of fact, most of the
eooperage stock made. in Michigan
| now comes from the Northern Pen
lnsula, instead of from the Southern
Peninsula, as was formerly the case.
It is the opinion of one of the best in
formed and most prominent manu-
facturers in Ohio that to-day there
are not 1000 slaves produced in that
State, where there were 10000 slaves
made ten years ago.
Red gum grows most abundantly
In Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi
and Tennessee, and with the increased
use of this and other Southern woods
In the manufacture Of slack cooper
age, the industry is shifting south
ward at a rapid rate. 1t is said that
there are now a score Of first class
plants, making slaves and heading in
| Louisiana, where there was only n
! of any large capacity ten years ago.
1t will be only a few years, however,
until the maximum output Of these
States will be reached, and there, too.
tn, manufacturers will be compelled
by the scarcity Of material to hunt
vigorously for a supply of timber.
So far, forest utilization in the
United States has been of the most
wasteful kind, and only a relatively
small percentage of the actual wood
content Of trees has finally reached
the consumer in the form Of soma
useful article, whether that be board
or stave or shingle. Studies made
by the forest service Of the Depart.
ment of Agriculture indicate that in
the manufacture of slaves and hoops
only fifty to sixty per cent. of the
contents of the log which goes to the
mill finally emerges in the manufac.
tured form, and that, with heading.
perhaps no more than twenty-five pei
cent. of the actual volume of the log
| finally goes into barrel hoNds.
Much of this lack of utilization
cannot be prevented, yet there are
possibilities of greater economy than
is commonly practiced.
1t is equally important to utilize
the waste which unavoidably occurs.
Every part of a tree may serve somt
useful purpose, and officers OF the
! forest service say that the time when