The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-05-04

Eart, TO all OIL litSr men Ills luNSlIOlt
has an important dollar-and-cert~
meaning.
Oneer to say. and contrary to ths
belief Of most people,, there are many
times When q cord is less than q cord.
and many conditions when it is more
School arithmeticS say that a cord OF
wood is 12S cubic feet, or the contents
OF a pile eight feet long, four feet
high and four feet wide. Wood j.
on this basis. A pile whose
length, breadth n neigh multiplied
together gives this number OF cubic
feet fills this requirement, no matter
whether the sticks are long or snort.
straight. round or split, unless there is
an understanding to the. contrary.
Nevertheless, q cord, though 1t comes
IN 10 legal requirements, IS an uncer-
tain Quantity, even when the seller IL
honest and the buyer satisfied.
A Test Case.
A lunbern1an may have a tract OF
pulp wood which he sells to- a paper
mill at IS a cord. for as many cords
IS il Will lake. It is in the contfact
| that he shall cut and stack it. He cuts
il in 12-foot lengths, and when the
lob is completed it measures zoe
| cords, and he receives $1.0OV Tor II
would he have made or lost by cut
ting 4-foot lengths instead or L?
He would have lost in the first place
FROM the additional labor required 70
e,,t 4-foot. wood. but his principal loss
would have resulted from a greatly
diminished number OF cubic 1eet, dus
70 the fact that short STICKS lie Closer
together than long.
Measurements and experimental
fests have been made to ascertain eX-
act1y how much actual wood IS IN
cords Of different lengths, sizes SHAPES
and species.
Had the 200 cords Of 12-foot Woo
been cut in.4-foot lengths, there Heul"
boye been only 116 cords. ana the
owner would have, received tor 'SS6e
instead of $1,000. Il vas therelort'
clearly to his advantage to cut Il
foot lengths. but it would have been
to the buyers advantage to nave itcut
in 4-foot lengths. He would nav
received the same actual oaaht''y %
wood $12O less.
Chopped or Sawed.
1t also makes considerable olBet-
Fence to the seller whether wood X
chouped or sawed. IT chopped, the
chins are lost. Where the logs are
large this loss amounts to no sma!l
total. In a cord OF 4-foot WOOD, Wlth
sticks six inches in diameter. lhe
4 chip loss is from six to aelght PEI
cent. ana. OF course, the shorter the
STICKS are cut the greater the loss. IL
the wood is sawed.r the sa"dusts IL
| scarcely half OF one per cen
The difference due to space between
the sticks of course depends very
much on the shape and size OF tne
sticks. Straight, smooth STICKS ne
close together, and q cord contains
more wood and less air. For given
lengths. sticks of softuoods arc usual
" s%traighter and smoother. and when
stacked lie closer together. But Nhat-
!, ever the kind. the cords Of long SUCKS
are pretty sure to contain more ethp-
iy space than cords made OF snort
| nieces. Likewise, cords of split Vooo
t contain less than cords Of round
sticks. The finer the wood is splft,fhv
: more it makes. Hence wood dealers
are often willing to sell bindings, an
: sawed and split for the same price
! per cord as unsplit wood. They set
back the cost Of labor IN the increase"
ulk
A cord 1os cubic feet> OF 4-foot
hardwood usually contains about :.
cubic feet of solid wood; q cora ol
{ 3-foOt wood averages So IL cQoic
feet; Of 2-foot wood, 81 feet, ana o.
1-foot wood IS feet. The con1erS
softwoods. contains 80 to SO CUBIC 1ee'
= Thus the purchasers receives on al
n average abou two-thirds OF 4 core ol
y real wood and one-third Of a cord o.
spaces
Buying by Weight.
In some countries wood is bough'
by weight. and the buyer comes NOR
nearly getting what he bargains 1or.
g INT even then he may miss it if ne
receives green wood when he want
dry. According to timber testing en-
u sineers Of United States Forest Ser
vice, wood may lose half or more ~
green weight in seasoning. CEDAR 10
lead pencils is bought by weight /,
this. country The pieces are SO s1udl
and OF such irregular size that the!
5 can not conveniently be stacked AN
measured as cord-WOod.
II The bulk Of nearly all WOODS dr
~creases as seasoning goes on. A nhdi
ii araa cords green will make from .
RI o2 cords when dry: This iS