Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-05-06
CORD OF WOOD
VARIES IN VALUE
SIZE OF LOGS MAKES LARGE
Difference
TWELVE FOOT LENGTHS ARE
BEST FOR SELLER
Purchaser Often Pays for Big Per-
centage of Space-5uying by
Weight Also Has Its
Drawbacks
when is a cord not a cord?

When is a cord not cord?
To the farmer harvesting his small
woodlot and to the man laying in logs
for the large fireplace of his country or
seaside home; to the paper manufae-
turer buying pulp wood, and to the
proprietor of the ordinary city wood.
yard, TO all of these men this question
has an important dollar-and-cents
meaning.
Queer to say, and contrary to the
belief of most people, there are many
times when a cord is less than a cord,
and many conditions when 1t is more,
school arithnetics say that cord of
wood is 12s cubic feet, or the contents
OF a pile eight feet long, four feet high
and four feet wide. Wood is marketed
on this basis. A pile whose length,
breadth and height multiplied together
gives this number of cubic rect mis-
this requirement, no matter whether
the sticks are long or short, stralgnt OF
crooked, round or split, unless there is
an understanding to the contrary. New
ertheless, a cord, though 1t comes up TO
legal measurements, is an uncertain
quantity. even when the seller is hon
est and the buyer satisfied.
size Makes Difference
A iumberman may have a tract of
ruin wood which he sells to a paper
mill at S. a cord, for as many cords as
IL will make. It is in the contract that
ne shall cut and stack 1t. He cuts 1t
in 12-foot lengths, and when the JOB Is
completed it measures 200 CORDS, ana ne
receives $1,000 for it. Would he nave
made or lost by cutting 4-foot lengths
instead of IL?
He would have lost in the first place
from the additional labor required TO
cut 4-foot wood, but his principal loss
would have resulted from greatly
diminished number of cubic rect, que
to the fact that short SUCKS lie closer
together than large.
Measurements and experimental tests
have been made to ascertain exactly
how. much actual wood is in cords or
different lengths, sizes, shapes ana spe-
cies.
Had the 200 cords of 12-foot wood
been cut in 4-foot lengths, there would
have heen only 176 cords, and the owner
would have received for it $3.50 instead
of $1,000. 1t was, therefore, clearly to
his advantage to cut 12-foot lengths,
Int il would have been to the buyer
advantage to have it cut IN 4-1oot
lengths. He would have received the
same actual quantity VI WSS0 ASA T-
Chips Cause Waste
II also makes. considerable difference.
10 the seller whether wood is chopped
or sawed If chopped, the chips are
lost. Where the logs are large this loss
amounts to no small total. In coru
OF four-foot wood, with sticks SIX
inches in diameter, the chip loss is
from & to 8 per cent; and of course the
4oIre ar ont the greater
the loss. If the wood is sawed, the
sawdust loss is scarcely half of per
cent
The difference due to spaces between
the sticks of course depends very mucn
on the shape and size of the sticks.
Straight, smooth sticks lie close to-
gether and a cord contains more wood
and less air. For given lengths, sticks
of softwoods are usually straighter and
smoother, and when stacked lie closer
together. But whatever the kind, CORDS
of long sticks are pretty sure TO con-
tain more empty space tnan coras
made of short pieces. Likewise, CORDS
of split wood contain less than cords
of round sticks. The finer the wood is
split, the more it makes. Hence wood
dealers are often willing to sell kind
lings. all sawed and split for the same
price per cord as unsplit wood. They
get back the cost of labor in the in
creased bulk.
a cord 02S cubic feet of four-foot
hardwood usually contains about So
cubic feet of solid wood; a cord of
three-foot wood averages S31s cubic
feet: of two-foot wood, S4 feet, and of
one-foot wood, IS feet The conifers,
softwoods, contain 80 to SO cubic feet.
Thus the purchaser received on an
average about two-thirds of cord of
real wood and one-third of a cord of
spaces.
Weight Method Unsatisfactory
In some countries wood is bought by
weight and the buyer comes more near
ly getting what he bargains for; but
even then he may miss it if he receives
green wood when he wants dry. Ac-
cording to timber-testing engineers of
the United States forest service, wood
NAV lose half or more its green weight
in seasoning. Cedar for lead pencils
is bought by weight in this country.
The pieces are so small and of such
irregular size that they cannot conven-
iently be stacked and measured as
cordwood.
The bulk of nearly all woods de-
creases as seasoning goes on. A hum
bred cords of green will make from SO
to SO cords when dry. This is a factor
of no small Importance to dealers who
handle large quantities.
WOodlot owners and farmers who
have small forest tracts from which
they expect to sell cordwood, are no
less Interested than contractors who
buy and sell large quantities, 1t yill
stand them in hand to know how much
difference it makes whether wood is
cut long or short, chopped or sawed,
whether the sticks are round or split,
whether large or small, and whether
the measurements are to be made while
the wood is green or after it is sea-
soned