Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1909-05-07
A CORD OF WOOD Is A
VARIABLE QUANTITY
When is a cord not Il cord?

When is a cord not cord?
To the faI me- harvesting his
small woodlOt and to the man lay
ing in logs for the large fireplace OF
his country or seaside home; to the
paper manufacturer buying pulp
wood and to the proprietor of the
ordinary city woodward, to all of
these men, this question has an i'm
portant dollar-and-cents meaning.
| Queer to say, and contrary to
the belief Of most people, there are
many times when a cord is less
than a cord, and many conditions
when it is more. School arlthme-
tics say that a cord of wood is 12S
cubic feet, or the contents of 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 to-
gether gives this number Of cubic
feet fills this requirement, no mat
ter whether the sticks are long or
snort, straight or crooked, round
or split, unless there is an under
sanding to the &C ntrary. Never
theless, a cord, though it comes up
to legal measurements, is an uncer-
tain quantity, even when the seller
is honest and the buyer satisfied.
A lumberman may have u trac;
of pulpwcood which he sells pa
ger 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 l2-foot
and when the job is com
plete, it measures 200 cords, and
he receives 81 900 for it. Would
he have made or lost by cutting A.
foot lengths instead Of -?
He would have lost in the first
place from the additional labor re-
quired to cut 4-foot wood, but his
loss would have resulted
from a 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
N cords Of different lengths, sizes,
shapes 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 far it $3.50 instead Of
81, 900. 1t was, therefore, clearly
% his advantage to cut 12-foot
engths, but it would have been to
he buyers advantage to have it
tut in 4-foot lengths. He would
lave received the same actual
quantity CT wood for S120 less. 4
1t also makes considerable differ
nee to the seller whether wood is S
chopped or sawed. If chopped,
he ships are lost. Where the logs S
re large this loss amounts to no
mall total. In a cord of 4-foot {
wood, with sticks 6 inches in diam
ter, the chip loss is from six to
light per cent; and OF course, the
horter the sticks are cut the great !
+ the loss. If the wood is sawed, !
he sawdust loss is scarcely the half !
f one per cent.
The difference due to, spaces be- :
ween the sticks of course depends ,
cry much on the shape and size of {
he sticks. Straight, smooth sticks
e close together, and a cord con- c
aims more wood and less air. For /
iven lengths, sticks of scftwoodS
re usually straighter and smooth
r, and when stacked lie closer to-
ether. But whatever the kind, q
ords of long sticks are pretty sure =
D contain more empty space than F
ords made of short pieces. Like a
Use, cords of split wood contain i,
,ss than cords of round sticks. The C
Everybody is likely to have kid 3
ou and hloddar trouble Tn fact