How to Care for Your Small Forest 



229 



a timber cruise, which provides vol- 

 ume, growth data, and other informa- 

 tion that is used in preparing a plan 

 for the small forest. 



Pulpwood is measured differently 

 from sawlogs or standing trees. The 

 local pulpwood buyer, county agent, or 

 local forester will have specifications 

 or know where to get them. Since dif- 

 ferent mills have different require- 

 ments as to length, it is always wise to 

 get complete information before cut- 

 ting begins or a sale is made. 



PULPWOOD MAY BE SOLD from your 

 small woodland in a number of ways : 



1. Pulpwood trees can be sold on 

 the stump and harvested by local con- 

 tractors or agents of a company. 



2. The owner can cut the pulpwood 

 and sell it to the same individuals. 



3. Pulpwood also can be cut by the 

 owner, and hauled and loaded on the 

 railroad car for shipment to the pulp 

 mill. In this way, the pulpwood is 

 measured on the car after it is de- 

 livered to the plant. Some owners cut 

 and deliver pulpwood to the railroad 

 siding, where it is measured while still 

 on the truck or after it is piled. 



The standard cord is the most com- 

 mon unit of measurement for pulp- 

 wood, but it is also measured in pens 

 or units. A standard cord is a stack of 

 pulpwood 4 feet high, 4 feet wide, and 

 8 feet long. It equals 128 cubic feet. 

 It contains about 90 cubic feet of solid 

 wood and bark, the remainder of the 

 stack being air spaces. Freshly cut 

 pulpwood is often piled 3 to 4 inches 

 higher than the required 4 feet to al- 

 low for shrinkage when the wood dries. 



Pens are hollow cribs of pulpwood 

 about 6 feet high. 



The unit is often called the long 

 cord, and results from the practice of 

 many mills wanting wood in lengths 

 varying from 4^4 feet up to 8 feet. A 

 stack of pulpwood, in any of these 

 lengths, 4 feet high and 8 feet across 

 the front is called a unit. In any one 

 unit the sticks should all be the same 

 length. Since the units are made up 

 of longer sticks than the 4-foot wood 



in a standard cord, the units contain 

 a greater volume of solid wood. A 

 standard cord of 4-foot pulpwood con- 

 tains 90 cubic feet of solid wood; a 

 unit of 5-foot pulpwood contains 113 

 cubic feet of solid wood. A unit of 6- 

 foot pulpwood contains 136 cubic feet 

 of solid wood. 



You should be familiar with these 

 various units of measure for pulpwood 

 so that you do not by mistake sell a 

 unit of wood for the price of a stand- 

 ard cord. 



Often you will lose if you sell your 

 pulpwood in pens, because the pens 

 are usually built up with sticks of 

 pulpwood of varying sizes. Buyers gen- 

 erally require five pens of wood for a 

 standard cord or one unit. Five pens 

 of pulpwood that have been cut 4 feet 

 long and in which the sticks are all 6 

 inches in diameter will equal a stand- 

 ard cord, or approximately one unit 

 of 5 -foot wood. But five pens of pulp- 

 wood 12 inches in diameter equals 2 

 cords or 2 units. A woodland owner 

 in this second case will lose a cord or 

 a unit of wood if the buyer takes five 

 pens. 



Always measure pulpwood in cords 

 or units, and sell it in the same way. 



SOME OF THE OTHER PRODUCTS that 

 the small-forest owner can sell are: 



Railroad ties. Because most ties 

 are now treated with chemicals to pre- 

 vent decay, practically all tree species 

 in the small forest can be cut for ties. 



Poles and piling are cut from south- 

 ern pines, eastern white-cedar, Doug- 

 las-fir, and oak. Usually only the best 

 trees will yield high-grade poles and 

 piling. Specifications vary, and nothing 

 should be cut until the owner knows 

 what sizes he can sell and how to cut 

 them. The local buyer or forester will 

 have this information. 



Veneer logs are used to make crates, 

 boxes, and baskets, and the fancy 

 veneer logs or bolts are used in making 

 fine furniture. Black walnut, basswood, 

 black cherry, the yellow birch, maple, 

 yellow-poplar, the sycamore, sweetgum, 

 blackgum, tupelo, beech, elm, and cot- 



