COOPER, in the trades, an artificer who makes casks, tubs, barrels, and all kinds of wooden vessels which are bound toge ther with hoops. This is unquestionably a very ancient trade, and is referred to 2000 years ago by the writers on rural economy in Rome. Their descriptions correspond lb a good measure with the construction of casks in our day. It is not known when the business of a cooper was first introduced into this country, bti: it has been supposed it was derived from the French. Wood used for the purpose of cask-making should be old and thick ; straight trees are the best ; from these are hewn thin planks, which are formed into staves. In France, we are told, the wood is prepared in winter ; the staves and bot toms are then formed, and they are put together in summer. Planing the staves, is one of the most difficult parts of the work, and it is at the same time one of the most important in the fabrication of casks. In the formation of the staves, it
must be recollected that each is to consti tute part of a double colloid. Each stave must therefore be broader at the middle, and gradually become narrower, but not in straight lines towards the extremities. The outside of the staves, across the wood, must be wrought into the segment of a circle; and it ilium be thickest near the middle, growing gradually thinner towards the ends. After the staves are dressed and ready to he arranged, the cooper, without attempting any great nicety in sloping them, so that the whole surface of the edge may touch in every point, brings the contiguous staves into contact only at the inner surface and in this way, by driving the hoops hard, he can make a closer joint than could be done by sloping them from the outer to the inner side.