THE USE OF WOOD FOR FUEL. 11 
FELLING. 
On the farms a time when labor can not be used at other work is 
the best time to cut wood; winter, late fall, and early spring are 
therefore generally the seasons when most wood fuel is cut. In the 
South, where the slack season comes at a different time, summer 
may prove the best season. However, there is no good reason why, 
if labor is available, fuel wood may not be cut at any time. 
In the case of hardwoods which reproduce readily from sprouts 
the time of cutting is of some importance. The sprouts will start 
immediately if the timber is cut in the summer or early fall but 
will not be strong enough to stand the winter, with the result that 
the reproduction will be winter-killed. On the other hand, if the 
timber is cut in the winter the sprouts will grow during the spring 
and summer to such a size and hardihood as to be immune from 
winter-killing. Winter cutting should therefore be practiced with 
species which sprout, if reproduction is desired. 
Cordwood is generally felled and cut into 4-foot or sled lengths 
with axes, or in some cases where larger trees are cut, with crosscut 
saws. Owing to the small size of the material generally cut this is 
the most economical method of felling the trees. A number of 
power-driven tree-felling machines have been devised, but none of 
them have proved practical, and even if they should become so their 
value would be in felling trees of large size. 
The cost of cutting cordwood varies with the prevailing wages 
of the region and with the kind of timber cut. Woodcutters’ wages 
run from less than $2 to more than $4 per day, or where paid by the 
cord, as is general in some regions, from about $2 to $3.50 per cord. 
The quantity of wood which can be cut per day per man is, of 
course, the real basis of the cutting cost and depends most on the 
skill of the workman and on the kind of wood. Inefficient labor will 
produce but one-half cord of hardwood or 1 cord of softwood per 
day, whereas good skilled workmen will cut from 14 to 2 cords of 
hardwood or from 3 to 4 cords of softwood per day. In one instance 
men inexperienced in timber work, such as business men from town, 
cut in hardwoods at the rate of two-thirds of a cord per day for the 
first day. 
These figures include both felling the trees and cutting them up 
into 4-foot lengths. If material is cut sled length, as is frequently 
done, more can be cut in a day. 
SKIDDING AND HAULING. 
In probably the majority of cases the practice is to cut wood into 
4-foot lengths and pile it close to where the trees are cut, and to haul 
it direct from these piles to consumers, 
