Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1909-05-06
A Cord of Wood is a Variable
Quantity.
When is a cord not a cord?

or seaside home; to the paper manu-
facturer buying pulpwood and to the
proprietor of the ordinary city wood
yard, to all of 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 a cord is less than a cord,
and many conditions when it is more
School arithmetics 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 together
gives this number of cubic feet fills
this requirement, mo matter whether
the sticks are long or short, straight Or
crooked, round or split, unless there is
an understanding to the contrary.
Nevertheless, 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 tract of
pulpwood which he sells to a paper
mill at $5 a 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
~ foot lengths, and when the job is
complete, it measures 200 cords, and
he receives $1,000 for it. Would he
have made or lost by cutting 4 foot
lengths instead of u?
4 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 dimished 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 wood is in cords of different
lengths, sizes, shapes and species.
Had the 200 cords of II foot wood
been cut in A 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 II foot
lengths, but it would have been to the
buyers advantage to have it cut in
foot lengths. He would have received
the same actual quantity of wood for
S120 less.
1t also makes considerable difference
to the seller whether wood is chopped
or sawed. If chopped, the chips are
lost. Where the logs are large this
loss amounts to no small total. In
cord of4 foot wood, with sticks inches
in diameter, the chip loss is from six to
eight 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 to-
gether, and cord contains more wood
and less air. For given lengths, sticks
of softwoods 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, theimore it makes. Hence wood
dealers are often willing to sell kindl-
ings, all sawed and split, for the same
price per cord as unspli twood. They
get back the cost of labor in the in
creased bulk.
A cord (12S cubic feet) of foot hard
wood usually contains about SO cubic
feet of solid wood; cord of foot
wood averages 83l cubic feet; Off foot
wood, 81 feet, and of l foot wood S5
feet. The conifers, softwoods, contain
80 to SO cubic feet, Thus the purchaser
received ou an average about two
thirds of cord ofreal wood and one
third of a 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 if he re-
cieves green wood when he wants dry.
According to timber testing engineers
of United States Forest Service, wood
may loss 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 ir-
regular size that they can not conven-
iently be stacked and measured as
cordwood.
The bulk of nearly all woods de
creases as seasoning goes on. A hun
dred cords green will make from So to