128 STACKED OR CORD MEASURE 



solid volume in cords of different cubic contents on a basis which prac- 

 tically amounts to a 100 per cent commercial standard. For if 100 

 cubic feet, as indicated above, is the practical maximum solid cubic 

 contents of a cord of stacked wood, a cord containing 70 solid cubic 

 feet bears a 70 per cent relation to this maximum, regardless of the fact 

 that 70 feet is but 54 per cent of the space in a stacked cord of 128 feet. 

 This accidental relation holds good only for standard cords. To apply 

 this same basis of comparison, instead of the per cent of stacked con- 

 tents, to long or short cords, the solid contents would have to be com- 

 pared to 78.12 per cent or Iff of the stacked contents. Average cord- 

 wood worked up from hardwoods, either split or round, is often reckoned 

 at 90 cubic feet or 90 per cent of a maximum cord, which is 70 per cent 

 of stacked contents. 



107. Standard Cordwood Converting Factors. The cubic contents 

 of stacked wood has been thoroughly investigated by European author- 

 ities on the basis of the stacked cubic meter, of length equal to 39.37 

 inches or 8.63 inches short of a 4-foot standard. According to the per 

 cents given in Table XXI (p. 130) these results should give about 1 per 

 cent more than the contents of similar sticks 4 feet long. 



The following Table XX is adopted from the results of an investi- 

 gation conducted by Prof. F. Baur, and published in a pamphlet entitled 

 " Untersuchungen liber die Festgeholt und das Gewicht des Schicht- 

 holzes und der Rinde," Augsburg 1879, pp. 97-99. These factors 

 may be regarded as standard for 4-foot lengths, after subtracting 1 per 

 cent. 



The difference in per cents between hardwoods and conifers in this 

 table is seen to fall largely in the smaller sizes. Where branch wood 

 is mixed in the cord the per cent of difference between hardwood and 

 conifers, usually about 6 per cent, may be increased to 12 or 15 per 

 cent, since many conifers lack mei'chantable branches, while hardwood 

 branches are usually crooked. 



108. Converting Factors for Sticks of Different Lengths. The 

 influence of length on per cent of solid contents is fairly constant for 

 sticks of all diameters, but differs tremendously according to the amount 

 of crook in the average stick. Table XXII gives average results 

 for conifers, which as a rule are much straighter than hardwoods. It 

 is seen in the table that the per cents when standardized for sticks of 

 the same diameter do not differ much, whether the sticks average over 

 5.5 inches or are between 1 inch and 2.5 inches in diameter. 



The differences in contents caused by crook and surface irregularities is well 

 shown in Table XXIII, prepared for hardwoods by Konig, p. 131. In this table 

 the values for straight sticks 4 feet long slightly exceed the values in Table 

 XXI since these sticks are selected. But for other lengths even in this class the 



