Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

BARK UTENSILS 269the t\vo ends tightly together, twisting them on eachother into a knot, and shoving them under, as a farmerbinds a sheaf of grain.Hoops and Splits.—The best hoops are madefrom hickory, white or black ash, birch, alder, arborvitaeor other cedar, dogwood, and various oaks.Take sprouts or seedlings and split down the middle,leaving the outer side round. Thin the ends alittle, and cut notches as in Fig. 97. An insideFig. 97.—Becketing hoopshoop, or any that is not subjected to much strain,is simply notched for a short overlap, as in theupper illustration; the ends are brought together,one on top of the other, and bound at a and b. Ahoop to be driven on the outside of a keg or barrelhas a long joint (lower figure) ; each end takesa half turn round the other, between notches, andthe joint isthen tied.Splits for basket-making and similar purposes arecommonly made of white oak, in spring or summer,when the sap is up. Select a straight-grained sapling,cut in lengths wanted, rive these into strips aswide as desired, then, with a knife, split these stripsbastard {i.e.^ along the rings of growth) to theproper thickness. Put them in water to soak untilneeded, if you want them pliable.Splits are easily made from slippery elm, for instance,by taking saplings or limbs three or fourinches in diameter, and hammering them with awooden mallet until the individual layers of woodare detached from those underneath, then cuttingthese into thin narrow strips. The strips are