192 The Farm Woodlot 



for all practical purposes in the following manner : Measure 

 the diameter of the log inside the bark at each end, being 

 careful to get the average diameter if the log is not round. 

 Turn to the table in the appendix of this book giving the 

 area of circles. Add the two areas thus obtained. Divide 

 the sum by two to get the average, and multiply the 

 result by the length of the log in feet. This gives the 

 number of cubic feet in the log. This method is sometimes 

 used when the logs are sold for pulpwood. 



CORDWOOD 



One important unit of measurement that is used a great 

 deal in connection with woodlot practice is the cord. The 

 standard cord is a pile of 4-foot wood, 4 feet high and 

 8 feet long, and contains 128 cubic feet of stacked 

 wood. A cord foot is one-eighth of a cord and contains 

 16 cubic feet of stacked wood. It is used as a measure 

 of firewood, pulpwood, stave and heading bolts, short 

 handle stock, shingle bolts, tan bark and nearly all other 

 material that is cut into short lengths. 



The cord, however, though used as an absolute unit of 

 measurement, does not always represent the same volume 

 of wood, by any means. Some of the volume is occupied 

 by the spaces between the sticks. The amount of this 

 space will vary with the size, length and form of the 

 sticks in the pile and the method of piling. The straighter 

 the sticks, the more closely they will lie together in the pile 

 and the higher will be the solid wood content. Thus cords 

 of pine, fir, spruce and tamarack will yield much higher 

 results than the more crooked and irregular hardwoods. 



Large sticks yield a higher solid content than small 



