2S3
Cooper Work .—This has become a very extensive trade in Scot-land j in consequence, 1st, of the increase of distilleries andbreweries: 2 d, The immense importation of rum from the WestIndies : 3d, The vast number of barrels used in the herringfishery, both at home and abroad: 4 ih, The great quantity ofcasks, barrels, tubs, and similar vessels employed in the opera-tions of bleaching, dyeing, calico-printing, and other chemicalprocesses: and, 5th, The increase of shipping and whale fishing,which require numerous casks for holding fresh water, and buttsand other vessels for oil and blubber.
The staves used in cooper work are oak, and principally ob-tained from foreign countries. Into the Clyde alone, during 1812,staves to the number of 357,656 were imported, which wouldproduce from 20 to 30,000 casks, and other vessels. The hoopsused are generally obtained at home from different species of thewillow tribe, and other pliant woods. Iron hoops are also used,and they are rolled out with great accuracy at the works of Dal-notter, Muirkirk, Cramond, and others.
In the neighbourhood of Glasgow , there is a saw-mill drivenby steam, which blocks out great numbers of cask staves withcircular saws; and one man can perform as much work by thismachine, as a dozen could execute by hand in the common way.An extensive establishment has recently been erected on the bankof the great canal near Glasgow , exclusively for the manufac-ture of casks, and other articles in the cooper line: many of theoperations are performed by machinery, driven by a powerfulsteam-engine. Upon the whole, from the extent and ready de-mand for articles of this description, occasioned by the increaseof commerce, manufactures, and fisheries of Scotland , the coopertrade is deemed very profitable.
This business is carried to considerable extent in Scotland ,and forms an important branch of national industry. Dock-yards, for building and repairing vessels, are established at allme principal sea-port towns along both coasts. The description°f vessels for the most part built in Scotland , may be termedcommercial; for, with the exception of several frigates, and somesmaller ships for the public service, few have been built for anyother purpose than that of trade and the fisheries. At Greenock ,1 ort-Glasgow , Ayr, and other places on the west coast, ships ofmige dimensions are built for the West Indian, American, and*orejg n trade ; and at Leith, Dundee, Aberdeen, &c. they areohiefly smaller vessels for the European commerce, the London trade, and the fisheries. Besides these, a number of cutters,s| oops, schooners, are built in the several dock-yards, peculiarlyadapted for a coasting trade in boisterous seas and high latitudes;^d when the flat-bottomed vessels, from 30 to 40 tons burthe-ij