The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1909-06-02
VARIES IN QUANTITY
A Cord OF Wood Is a Rather I'm.
certain Proposition.
ODD FACTS ABOUT ITS BULK.

There Are Many Different Conditions
That Affect the Measurement Of the
PiIe-The Interesting Result Of an
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 cord
and many conditions when 1t is more.
School arlthmetics say that cord of
wood is 1913 cubic feet, or the con-
tents of 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 fills 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, a cord, though
1t comes up to legal measurements, Ia
an uncertain quantity, even when the
seller Is honest and the buyer salts
fed
A lumberman may have a tract OF
pulp wood which he sells to paper
mill at SIS a cord for AZ many cords as
1t will make. 1t Is In the contract that
he shall cut and stack 1t. He cuts 1t In
twelve foot lengths, and when the job
is complete 1t measures 200 cords, and
he receives $1,000 for 1t. Would he
have 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
loss 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 IN 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 It $3.50 Instead Of $1,000. 1t was.
therefore. clearly to his advantage to
cut twelve foot lengths, but It 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 $120 less.
1t also makes considerable differ.
ence to the seller whether wood ID
chopped or sawed. IL chopped, the
chips are lost Where the logs arr
large this loss amounts to no small
total. In cord Of four foot wood
with sticks six inches In diameter, thu
chip loss Is from to per cent, and
Of course. the shorter the sticks art
cut the greater the loss. II the WOOD
Ia sawed the sawdust loss is scarcel,
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 lii
close together, and a 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
Likewise cords Of split wood contain
less than cords of round sticks. The
finer the wood Is split the moro II
makes: hence wood dealers are often
willing to sell kindlings, all sawed and
split, for tho same price per cord as
unsplit wood. They get back the cost
of labor In the increased bulk.
A cord Q28 cubic feet Of four foot
hardwood usually contains abou
eighty three cubic feet Of solid wood
cord OF three foot wood averages
eighty-three and one-half feet, of two
foot wood eighty-four feet and Of one
foot wood eighty-f five feet. The conf
fers, soft woods, contain ninety t.
ninety-six cubic feet. Thus the pur
chaser receives on an average about
;two-thirds Of cord Of real wood and
tone-third Of n 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 It II he re
ceives green wood when he wants dry
= 10 ivo
of the United 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
Of such irregular size that they cannot
conveniently be stacked and measured
a. cordwood
The bulk Of nearly all woods dc.
creases as seasoning goes on. A hun
dred cords green will make from
eighty-nine to ninety-three cords when
dry. This Is factor Of no small I'M
portance to dealers who handle large
quantities.
Wood lot owners and farmers who
have small forest tracts from which
they expect TO sell cord wood are no
less interested than contractors who
buy and sell large quantities. 1t will
stand them In hand to know how
much difference 1t 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 u green or aftse
1t II seasoned.
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