The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-06-11
VARIES IN QUANTITY.
A Cord Of Wood Is a Rather in
certain Proposition
ODD FACTS ABOUT ITS BULK.

ODD FACTS ABOUT ITS BULK.
There Are Many Different Conditions
That Affect the Measurement ~ the
Piis-rhs Interesting NssSit 81 ~
Experimental Test.
When Is q cord not cord?
To the farmer harvesting his smA
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 10 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 4 cord Is less than Q cord
and many conditions when it - more.
Schco, arithmetics say that . cord Of
wood Is l2S cubic feet. or the con-
tents OF pile eight feet long. four feet
high and four feet wide. Wood b mar
Leted on this basis A pile whose
length. breadth and height multiplied
together gives this number Of cubic
feet fills this requirement. no matter
whether the sticks are long or short.
straight or crooked. round o. split. IN
less there IL an understanding % the
contrary. Nevertheless. cord. though
II comes mp to legal measurementn. -
an uncertain quantity. even when the
seller II honest and the buyer sat1D-
ied
A lumberman may have . tract Of
pulp wood which he sells to q paper
mill at s. cord for ~ many cords a
II will make. 1t - in the contract that
he shall cut and stack II. He cuts ie In
twelve foot lengths. and whsn de Job
10 complete It measures 100 cords. and
he receives $1,000 for 1t. Would he
have made or lost by cutting four foot
lengths instead Of twelves
He would have lost IN the 6rst place
from the additional labor required 70
cut four foot wood. but his principal
loss would have resulted from q great.
" diminished number Of cubic feet.
due to the fact that short stickp NJ
closer together than large.
Measurements and experimental tests
have been made to ascertain exaetly
how much actual wood b IN coeds oe
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 ITO cords.
and the owner would have received
for It $3.50 instead Of $1,000. It wa
therefore. clearly to his advantago %
cut twelve foot lengths. bat Il would
have been to the buyers advantage 10
have It cut in -four foot lengths- He
would have received the same actuAl
quantity Of wood for $40 less.
It also makes considerable diner
ence to the seller whether wood -
chopped or sawed. II chopped. the
chips are lost. Where the logs ne
large this loss amounts to no small
total. In a cord Of four foot wood.
with sticks six inches IN diameter. The
chip loss II from 9 to 8 per cent and.
Of course. the shorter the stjc1s are
cut the greater the loss. II the wood
Il sawed the sawdust loos u 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. Straighh smooth sticks IL
close together. md Q cord contains
more wood and less air. For given
lengths sticks of soft woods are usual
~ straighter and smoother and when
stacked lie closer together. But what
ever the kind. cords Of long sticks arc
pretty sure to contain more empty
space than cords made Of short pieces.
Likewise cords Of split wood contain
less than cords Of round sticks. The
finer the wood b split the more Il
makes: hence wood dealers are often
willing to sell bindings. al sawed and
split. for the same price per cord ~
unsplit wood. They set back the cost
Of labor in the increased bulk.
A cord (128 cubic feet Of four foot
hardwood usually contains about
eighty.three cubic feet Of solid wood.
cord Of three foot wood avesaeeo
eighty-three and one-half feet. Of two
foot wood eighty -four feet ana u one
foot wood eiebty-6ve feet. The conf
leISs UOAS WOU1D. CUOAbO Oa0UV W
ninety-six cubic feet. Thus the pur.
chaser receives ON m average about
two-thirds Of . cord Of real wood and
one-third OF q cord Of spaces.
In some countries wood b bought By
weight. and the buyer comes more
nearly getting what he bargains for.
but even then he may miss Il II be re-
eeives green wood when he wants dry.
According to timber testing engineers
Of the United States forest service.
wood may lose half or more its green
weight In seasoning. Cedar for lead
pencils n bought BY weight IN this
country. The pieces are % sman and
Of such irregular size that they cannot
conveniently be stacked and measured
AZ cordwood.
The bulk Of nearly an woods de-
creases as seasoning goes on. A hun
dred cords green win make from
eighfy-nine to ninety-three cords when
dry This q factor Of no small I'M
portance to dealers who handle larEe
quantities
Wood lot owners and farmers who
have small forest tracts from which
they expect to sell cord wood are No
less interested than contractor who
buy and sell large quantities Il vim