Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

268 CAMPING AND WOODCRAFTphrosia), called also goat's rue or hoary pea, aretough and flexible.Grapevine rope is made in a manner similar tobark rope. The American wistaria {Kraunhia frutt'scens)is so tenacious and supple that it was formerlyused along the lower Mississippi for boats'cables; it can also be knotted with ease.Withes.—^A favorite basket plant of the Apachesand Navajos is the ill-scented sumac or skunk-bush(Rhus trilobata), which is common from Illinoiswestward. The twigs are soaked in water, scraped,and then split. Baskets of this material are somadethat they w^ill hold water, and they are oftenused to cook in, by dropping hot stones in thetvater. A southern shrub, the supple-jack (Bercliemiascundens) , makes good withes. The fibersof the red-bud tree are said by basket-makers to^qual in strength those of palm or bamboo. Forsuch purpose as basket-making, withes should begathered in spring or early summer, when the woodis full of sap and pliable. If the material is tobe kept for some time befoie weaving, it should beburied in the ground to keep it fresh. In anycase, a good soaking is necessary, and the workshould be done while the withes are still wet andsoft. Other good woods for withes are ash, whiteoak, hickory, yellow birch, leatherwood, liquidambar,willow, and witch hazel. Large withes forbinding rails, raft logs, etc., are made from tallshoots or sprouts of hickory or other tough wood,by twisting at one end with the hands until the fiberseparates into strands, making the withe pliable sothat it can be knotted. This usually is done beforecutting off the shoot from its roots. A sapling asthick as one's wrist can be twisted by cutting itdown, chopping a notch in a log (making it a littlewider at the bottom than at the top) trimming thebutt of the sapling to fit loosely, driving in a wedge,,Aid then twisting.A withe is quickly fastened in place by drawing: