150 FARM FORESTRY 



but should be set on end or piled in open piles so that they 

 will season well. 



Mine Timbers. In the neighborhood of mines there is 

 usually a good demand for mine timbers. These vary from 

 heavy props and supporting timbers to small sticks but 3 or 4 

 inches in diameter called lagging, used to keep earth and rock 

 from falling into the mine between the props. Many mine ties 

 are also used. These are much smaller in size than the or- 

 dinary ties used in railroads. Wood is used in mines in 

 preference to other material, because it will give way slowly 

 when subject to great weight, gradually splintering and crack- 

 ing, giving the miners warning of the moving rock and a 

 chance to get away. Wood decays very rapidly in mines 

 owing to the damp conditions so it must be replaced often. 

 Durable woods are in greatest demand but where these are 

 scarce almost any strong wood is accepted. 



Cordwood. Fuel wood is usually cut into 4- foot lengths 

 and piled in stacks 4 feet high and 8 feet long. Such a stack 

 occupies 128 cubic feet. A cord foot is one-eighth of a cord 

 or a pile 4 feet high, 4 feet wide and I foot long. Surface 

 feet as applied to cordwood is the number of square feet 

 measured on the side of a stack. Pulpwood is sometimes cut 

 in 5-foot lengths, in which case a stack 4 feet high and 8 

 feet long will contain 160 cubic feet. Wood is also cut in 

 shorter length, as 15 or 18 inches for stove wood, or 2 to 3 

 feet long for other purposes. A cord of such wood is a stack 

 4 feet high and 8 feet long. It is often called a short cord. 

 In selling a short cord the price is made proportional to the 

 length of the pieces. 



The amount of solid wood in a cord will vary with many 

 factors. The more important ones are as follows : 



The Form of the Sticks. If the wood is straight and 

 smooth, such as body wood or trunk wood, the pieces will 

 lie closer and a cord will contain more wood than if the pieces 

 are crooked, branched or forked, such as limb wood. 



