Network Members
Keeping Family Traditions Alive

Sharon Anderson
Watershed Steward

Dried flag leaves are soaked, twisted together and woven into a rush seat that looks quite different than a common caned chair. In one day, an experienced person can produce an attractive chair seat that has a soft springiness that lasts for years.

From the 4th of July to the end of the month Bill Shuster will be carrying on the family tradition of cutting flag. The flag, commonly called cattail (Typha spp.), is harvested from the lakeshore to make a comfortable and durable chair seat. With the help of his brother Peter Shuster, who serves on the Cayuga Lake Watershed Network Board of Directors, Bill carries on this annual practice that started when his grandfather lived on the same Seneca Falls farm.

Like his father before him, Bill sets off in a small boat to get to the shallow north section of the lake where multiple passageways twist and turn before reaching the open water. In years gone by, the elder Shuster was a master flag cutter, standing in the shallow waters, using a very sharp flag knife to rhythmically and rapidly cut flag. Not wanting to be spoken to or interrupted he would fill up the boat with loads of heavy, wet flag to be taken to up to the farm. The flag stalks were then tied to poles and dried in the sun. Nowadays, the sons dry their flag inside to preserve a soft green color prized by the specialty craft suppliers. The quantities they sell now are modest compared to the railroad carloads sold to the Frantz Flag Company a century ago.

Early-harvest flag is soft and pliable, while the late harvest flag is tough and strong. Bill will again take out his boat and flag knife in September when the flag has grown to 10 feet tall. The bottom 2 feet of this late growth, referred to as the butt end, is prized for caulking between the boards in the head (top and bottom portions) of wine flasks and whiskey barrels. The flag will may last even longer than the 100-year life of the tough, white oak boards. Flag from the north end of Cayuga Lake and the area that is now Montezuma Wildlife Refuge produced some of the best cooperage flag in the world. Peter says the reason is simple, "the bigger the butts, the better they like it."

	Peter Shuster provides a glimpse into the cattail, or flag, mats growing in the shallows of the northern end of Cayuga Lake.

As a life-long resident, Peter has noticed changes in the lake and its flag production. In 1972, Hurricane Agnes ripped through central New York and tore out a large mat of flag. More recently the pretty but harmful purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) has been trying to push out the native flag. Nutrient reduction efforts at the Seneca Falls Waste Water Treatment Plant, intended to help clean up the lake, have also had an impact. Excess nutrients, while not good for the overall, long-term health of the lake, acted as fertilizer for the flag, producing bumper crops. The previously high phosphorus levels in sewage effluent also fertilized algae and weeds, however, and success in reducing this nutrient source has meant a less murky lake. Until the last couple years, the Shusters had never seen the fabled sandy lake bottom that is once again noticeable in places their elders claimed it once existed. Another change Peter notices is the disappearance of muskrats. Once very visible among the flag, upon which they depend for food and lodge-building materials, they are no longer seen. Peter guesses they may be unable to survive the low winter water levels.

Harvesting flag is a very small part of the Shuster Farm operation, which includes wheat, oats, soybeans, strawberries and a few dairy cows. All of these rely on clean water, used for irrigation to keep the strawberries juicy and the other crops producing optimally. The Shusters have adopted many practices to keep agricultural chemicals from draining into the lake. To keep the soil in the fields where it belongs, 100,000 feet of tile drainage quickly removes excess rainwater without allowing the soil to erode. The farm is still a family operation, Peter’s granddaughter is helping on the farm while home from college and his 4-year old great grandson is coming to live with them to benefit from rural farm life.

Thanks to Peter and Bill Shuster for providing the information for this article — the first of a series that will help you get acquainted with the people that make up the Network.