Small and medium size local orchestras (10-12 instruments) were much more common in those days than today and a typical ragtime arrangement was written for flute (or piccola), clarinet, cornet, trombone, piano, drums, 1st and 2nd violin, violoncello and contra bass. Some added viola and a second clarinet and/or cornet as well.
Ragtime was also played by brass bands. They were typically much larger - 20-25 instruments - than the local orchestras and made up of wood winds, brass and percussion only. They could thus perform outdoors and march in parades etc.
NOTE: Present day brass band instrumentation was standardized in the mid-1950s. Brass band music published during the ragtime era had Db Piccolo instead of C Flute and Eb Alto Horns instead of F Horns.
As opposed to ragtime piano sheet music, that is readily available on the Internet, original ragtime era orchestra arrangements are hard to come by, at least for the time being. I'm very grateful to David Kerr of the New Century Ragtime Orchestra, England, Klaus Pehl of the Ragtime Society Frankfurt,Germany and Andrew Greene of the Peacherine Ragtime Orchestra, USA for making a large number of their stock arrangements available to me for publishing here.

