Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1909-06-30

=.
Experimental Test.
When Is a cord not a cordr
To the farmer harvesting his small
wood lot and to the man laying In logs
Tor the large fireplace OF his country
OF seaside home. to the paper manu-
facturer buying pulp wood and 10 the
proprietor OF the ordinary city wood
YARD, to all OF these men this question
mas an Important financial meaning.
Queer to say and contrary to the be-
lief Of most people. there are many
times when a cord is less than n cord
and many conditions when II Is ,nore
school arithmetics say that a cord of
wood Is 12S cubic feet. or the con-
tents or pile eight feet long. four feet
high and four feet wide. Wood Is mar
keted on this basis. a pile whose
length, breadth and height multiplied
together gives this number OF cubic
teet fills this requirement. no matter
whether the sticks are long or short
straight or crooked. round on split. un.
less there IS an understanding 10 the
contrary Nevertheless. n cord. though
II comes up TO legal measurements. Is
an uncertain quantity. even when the
seller Is honest and the buyer salts
nod
\ lumbcrman may have tract OF
pulp wood which he sells 10 a psper
hiiii az - CCrd fer as many cords as
u VIII make. IL IS IA The contract that
be shall cut and stack 70. He cuts IL I'm
twelve foot lengths. aId when the lob
IS complete it measures 200 cords. and
he receives $1,000 Tor H. Would he
have made or lost by cutting four foot
lengths instead OF twelveg
lie would have lost in the first place
from the additional labor required TO
cut four foot wood. but his PRINCIPAL
loss would have resulted from a great
" diminished number OF cubic feet.
due TO the fact that short sticks lie
closer together than large.
Measurements and experimental tests
have been made TO ascertain exactly
how much actual wood is I'm cords OF
different lengths. sizes. shapes and
species.
Had the 200 cords OF twelve foot
wood been cut in four foot lengths
there would have been only 176 cords
and tho owner would have received
Tor II $3.50 instead Of $1,000. II was.
therefore. clearly 20 his advantage TO
cut twelve foot lengths. but it would
have been 10 tho buyers advantage To
have IL cut In four foot lengths. He
would have received the same actual
quantity Of wood for 500 less.
IL also makes considerable differ
ence 10 the seller whether wood is
chopped or sawed. II chopped. the
chips are lost. Where the logs are
large this loss amounts 90 40 small
total. In cord OF four foot wood.
with sticks six inches In diameter. the
chip loss IS from 6 TO per cent. and.
OF course. the shorter the sticks arc
cut the greater the loss. II the wood
Is sawed the sawdust loss Is scarcely
the hslf oc per cent
The difference due go spaces between
the STICKS. cf course. depends very
much ou ,hc shape and size OF tho
sticks. Straight. smooth sticks lie
close together. and cord contains
more wood and less afr. For given
lengths sticks ~ soft woods are usual
ly siraightcr and smoother and when
stacked lie closer together. But what
ever the kind. cords 90 long sticks arc
pretty sure Go contain more empty
space than cords made az short pieces
Likewise cords of split wood contain
less than cords or round sticks. The
finer the wood Is split the more &c
makes; hence wood dealers are often
Z
split for the same price per cord rs
unSplit wood. They get back the cost
OF labor in The increased bulk.
y cord IDS cubic fceu or todr Ioot
hardwood usually contains about
eighty-;hrcc cubic feet az solid wood.
a cord OF three foot wood averages
eichty-threc and ouo-halC feet of two
foot wood ci-hty-four feet and of one
foot wood eighty-nvc feet. The conf
fcrs. soft woods. contain ninety to
nincty-SiX cubic feet THUS the pur-
chaser receives on an average about
two-,hirds of @ cord az real wood ana
pne-tniro az cord 90 spaces.
In some countries wood Is bought 10y
wcight and the buyer comes moro
nearly getting what he barvainS for.
but even then he may miss il II he re-
cCivcS green wood when De wants dry
According ia timber testing engineers
OF the United States forest service.
wood may lose half or more Its green
weight IN seasoning. Cedar for lead
pencils IS bought 10y weight IN this
country. The pieces are 50 small and
9f such irregular size that they cannot
conveniently be stacked and measured
oS cordwoCG
The bulk pf nearly an woods do.
crcascS as seasoning goes On. \ hun
Lrcd cords green VIII make from
cighty-nine 10 uinety-thrce cords when
dry. This Is n factor Of no small I'm
portance Il dealers who handle large
quantities
Wood lot owners ana Farmers Who
nave small forest tracts from which
they expect 10 sell cord wood are no
less interested than contractors who
buy and sell large quantities. It viii
stand them I'm hand TO Know now
much difference n makes whether
wood IS cut long or short. chopped or
sawed. whether the sticks are round
or split, whether large or small and
- =,