Amador ledger., 1909-05-14
A CORD OF WOOD
A VARIABLE QUANTITY
When is q cord not q cordY

woodlot and to the man laying in
logs for the large fireplace lUf his
country seaside home; to the puper
manufactured buying pulpwood and
to the proprietor OF the ordinary city
woodward, 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 cord is less than cord,
and many conditions when it is more.
School aIIthmetics say that cord
of wood is 1913 cubic feet, or the cou-
tents 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 feet fits this requirement,
DO matter whether the sticks are long
or short, straight or crooked, round
or split, unless there is an under
standing to the contrary. ,Neverthe-
less, a cord, though it comes up to
legal measurements, is an uncertain
quantity, even when the seller is
onest and the buyer satisfied.
A iumberman may have tract OF
pulpwood which he sells to paper
mill at So cord, for as many cords
as it will make. 1t is in the contract
that he shall cut and stack it. He
cuts it in 12-foot lengths, and when
the job is compete, it measures 2O0
cords. aud he receives 81 900 for it.
Would he have made or lost by cut
ting 4-foot lengths instead of 12P
lie would have lost in the first
place from the additional labor re-
quired to cut 4-foot wood, but his
principal loss would have resulted
from greatly 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, and
species.
Had the 200 cords of 12-foot wood
been cut in 4-foot lengths, there
would have been only 176 cords, and
the owner would have received for it
$3.50 instead of 81, ,000. 1t was, there
tore, clearly to his advantage to cut
l2-foot lengths, but it would have
been to the buyers advantage to have
it cut in 4foot lengths. He would
have received the same actual quantity
of wood for Sl20 less.
1t also makes considerable differ
ence to the seller whether wood is
chopped or sawed. 4 chopped. the
chips are lost. Where the logs are
large this loss amounts to no small
total. In cord OF 4-toot wood, with
sticks 8 inches in diameter, the chip
loss is from six to eight per cent: and
of course. the shorter the sticks are
cut the greater tho loss. Ii the wood
is sawed, the sawdust loss is scarcely
the half of one per cent.
The difference due to spaces be-
tween the sticks of course depends
very much on the shape and size
of the sticks. Straight, smooth
sticks lie close together, and cord
contalns more wood and less air.
For given lengths. sticks of softw oods
are usually straighter and smoother,
and when stacked lie closer together.
But whatever 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 more it makes. Hence wood
dealers are often willing to sell kindl.
ings. all sawed and split, for the
same price per cord as unsplit wood
They get back the cost of labor in the
incl eased bulk.
A cord (l2S cubic feet) of 4fool
hardwood usually contains about s;
cubic feet of solid wood; cord Of
3-foot wood averages S3N cubic feet
of 2-foot wood, 81 feet, and of l-fouI
wood 80 feet. The conIfers, soft
woods, contain 80 to 81 cubic feet
Thus the purchaser received on al
average ABOUT two-thirds of a cord Of
real wood and one-third of cord Of