Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1909-12-25

WILL AAh. -
A Cord of " ood is variabie Quahtity
When is cord not a,cord2 :,
To the farmer harvesting his small
woodlot and to the men laying in logs.
for the large fireplace ofshis country or
seaside home; to the paper manhfac-
turer buying pulpwood and to the,pro-
prietor of the ordinary city woodward,
to all these men this question has an
important dollar and cents 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 a. cord OF
wood is 1913 cubic feet, or the contents of
a pile feet long, feet high and feet
wide. Wood is marketed on ibis basis
A pile whose length, breadth and height,
multiplied together, gives this number
of cubic feet tillsS thiss.yeqPi qPirsg'spts,np
matter whether the sticks are long or
short, straight or crooked, round or
split, unless there lisa understanding
to the contrary. Nevertheless, a'cord,
though it comes up toslegal measure
ments, is an uncertain quantity, even
when the seller is honest and the buyer
satisfied. -
A lumberman may have tract of
pulpwood which he sells to paper mill
at $500 a cord for as many cords as It
will make. 1t is in the contract that be
shall cut and stack it., He. cuts it into
l2-foot lengths, and when the JOB is
complete, it measures 200 cords, and he
receives 81, 900 for it.. Would he have
made or lost by cutting 4-foot lengths
instead of 12?
he would have lost in the first place
from the additional labor required to-
cut 4-foot wood, but his principal loss
would have resulted from a greatly
diminished number of cubic feet due to
the fact that short sticks lie closer to-
gether than large. 81
Measurements and experimental tests
have been made to ascertain how much
actual wood is in cords of different
lengths, sizes, shapes, and species.
Had the 200 cords of l2-foot wood
been cut in 4.foot lengths, there would
have been only l76 cords, and the owner
would nve received for it $3.50 instead
of 81 900 foi it. 1t was therefore clearly
to his advantage to cut l2-foot lengths,
but it would have been to the buyers
advantage to have it cut in 4-foot
lengths. He would have received the
same actual Quantity of wood for $l2O
less. T. -.
1t also makes considerable difference
TO the seller 2hether wood is chopped
or sawed. chopped, vthe e-chfpss are
lost. Where the logs are large this loss
amounts to no small total. In cord of
4-foot wood, with sticks 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 one 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 usually straighter and
smoother, and when stacked lie closer
together. But of 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 kind
lings, 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 (l2S cubic feet of 4foot hard
wood usually contains about SO cubic feet
of solid wood; cord of ,3-foot wood
averages S31l cubic feet; of2-foot wood,
"a feet, and of l-foot wood 50 feet. The
conifers, softwoods, contain 80 to SO
cubic feet Thus the purchaser receives
on an average about two-thirds of a cord
of real wood and one-third of a cord of
spaces. -a
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 if he re:
ceives green wood when he wants dry,
According to timber testing engineers Of
United States Forest Service, wood may
lose half or more its green weight in
seasoning. go - Fi
Cedar for lead pencils is bought by
weight in this country. The pieces are