31-t JOURNAL OP FORESTRY 



less solid wood than is actually contained in the average, cord of 4 or 5 

 foot wood. 



In deciding on the unit to be used as the basis for prices it was ad- 

 visable either (i) to require that 128 cubic feet of piled wood cut any 

 length be delivered for one cord/ or (2) to accept business practice 

 and define the unit (cord) as containing the wood sawed in short 

 lengths which came from a pile of 4 or 5 foot wood containing 128 

 cubic feet.- 



Number (2) was taken as the better unit, both because it followed 

 business practice and would therefore cause the least interference with 

 methods of doing business and because it is considered to be the more 

 logical selling unit. 



It then became necessary to fix the amount of wood of different 

 lengths which came out of a cord pile of 4 or 5 foot wood.^ 



The wood dealers preferred to have these amounts fixed for wood 

 thrown in loose into a wagon body. This method would make it diffi- 

 cult and often impossible for the purchaser to measure the wood re- 

 ceived. If the unit was established as a stated number of cubic feet of 

 piled wood of a given length, the purchaser could easily ascertain 

 whether he had the full amount. For this reason it was decided to ex- 

 press the amount of wood secured from a cord of 5-foot wood in 

 stacked cubic feet. 



In tests in Massachusetts the measurement of the amount of wood 

 in short lengths which comes out of a cord of long wood has been ex- 

 pressed in cubic feet of wood thrown loose into a wagon body."' This 

 evidently admits of less accurate measurement on the part of the pur- 

 chaser than a method based on cubic feet of piled wood. Furthermore, 

 from the dealer's standpoint, it should be noted that wood thrown in 

 loose packs together and settles in transit, and when presented for the 

 purchaser's inspection would occupy a smaller space than when first 

 thrown in. Cook admits (see quotation given below) that for 24-inch 

 wood measurement by throwing in loose gave too variable results. 



^ The State of Vermont adopted this system, as is shown in the following quota- 

 tion from a regulation of the Department of Weights and Measures. State of 

 Vermont, issued September 11, 1918: "A cord shall contain 128 cubic feet of 

 wood ; a cord of 16-inch wood shall contain the equivalent of three piles of wood 

 4 feet'high, 8 feet long, and 16 inches wide; a cord of 12-inch wood shall contain 

 the equivalent of four piles of wood 4 feet high, 8 feet long, and 12 inches wide, 

 and no cord of any length wood shall contain less than 128 cubic feet of wood." 



" A bill is before the Massachusetts State legislature which as now drafted 

 follows this principle. . , , 



Mn the New Haven district both 4 and 5 foot wood are cut, with the latter 

 length as the more customary. For this reason 5-foot wood was used in the 

 tests. 



