The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-06-07
VARIES IN QUANTITY,
A Cord Of Wood Is a Rather Un-
certain Proposition.
ODD FACTS ABOUT ITS BULK.
There Are Many Different Conditions
That Affect tho Measurement Of the
PiIe--The Interesting Result Of an
Experimental Test.

Experimental Test.
When is cord not cord?
To the farmer harvesting his small
wood lot and to the man laying in logs
for the large fireplace of his country
or seaside home, TO the paper manu-.
facturer buying pulp wood and to the
proprietor of the ordinary city wood
yard, to all OF these men this question
has an important financial meaning.
Queer to say and contrary to the be-
lief of most people. there are many
| times when cord is less than a cord
and many conditions when it is more.
School arithmetics say that cord Of
wood is 1913 cubic feet, or the con.
tents of a 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
feet 0lls this requirement, no matter
whether the sticks are long or short,
straight or crooked, round or split, un.
less there is an understanding TO the
contrary. Nevertheless, cord, though
1t comes up TO legal measurements, Is
an uncertain quantity, even when the
seller is honest and the buyer salts.
fed.
A lumberman may have tract of
pulp wood which he sells to paper
mill at So a cord for as many cords as
1t will make. II IL in the contract that
he shall cut and stack 1t. He cuts II in
twelve foot lengths, and when the Job
Is complete 1t measures 200 cords, and
he receives $1,000 for It, Would lie
havo made or lost by cutting four foot
lengths instead OF twelve?
He would have lost in the first place
from the additional labor required to
cut four foot wood, but his principal
|ioss would have resulted from great
ly 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 the owner would have received
for 1t $3.50 instead of $1,000. 1t was,
therefore, clearly TO his advantage to
cut twelve foot lengths, but 1t would
have been to the buyers advantage to
have 1t cut in four foot lengths. He
would have received the same actual
quantity Of wood for $40 less.
1t also makes considerable differ
enGe to the seller whether wood Is
chopped or sawed IL chopped, the
chips are lost. Where the logs are
large this loss amounts to no small
total. In cord of four foot wood,
with sticks six inches in diameter, the
chip loss is from 6 to 8 per cent, and,
of course, the shorter the sticks are
cut the greater the loss. If the wood
Is sawed the sawdust loss Is scarcely
the half of per cent
The difference due TO spaces between
the sticks, of course, depends very
much on the shape and size of the
sticks. Straight, smooth sticks lie
close together, and cord contains
more wood and less air. For given
lengths sticks of soft woods are usual
ly straighter and smoother and when
stacked lie closer together. But what
ever the kind, cords of long sticks are
pretty sure to contain more empty
space than cords made of short pieces.
less than cords of round sticks. The
finer the wood is split the more 1t |
makes: hence wood dealers are often |
willing to sell kindlings, all sawed and |
split, for the same price per cord as
unsplit wood. They get back the cost |
of labor In the increased bulk.
A cord OPS cubic feet of four foot |
hardwood usually contains about |
cubic feet of solid wood,
q cord of three foot wood averages
and one-half feet, of two
foot wood eighty-four feet and of one
foot wood eighty-five feet. The conf
fers, soft woods, contain ninety to
nlnety-six cubic feet. Thus the pur.
chaser receives on an average about
OF cord Of real wood and
one-thlrd OF a cord OF spaces.
In some countries wood is bought by
weight, and the buyer comes more
nearly getting what he bargains for,
but even then he may miss II II he re-
rclves green wood when he wants dry.
According tc timber testing engineers
,f the uuitcd States forest service.
wood may 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
If such irregular size that they cannot
conveniently be stacked and measured
Is cordwood
The bulk of nearly all woods de-
'reases as seasoning goes on. A hum
lred cords green will make from
'ighty-nine to ninety-three cords when
Try. This is a factor of no small Inn
'ortance to dealers who handle large
Wood lot owners and farmers who
ave small forest tracts from which
hey expect to sell cord wood are no
ess Interested than contractors who
'uy and sell large quantities. 1t will
'tand them In hand to know how