Forest Mensuration 193 



sticks, because there is less chance for spaces between 

 them. And for the same reason round wood stacks 

 smaller than the same wood split up. It is a common 

 saying among wood choppers that wood swells when it is 

 split. It follows from the preceding reasons that there 

 is less solid content in a pile of long sticks than in a pile 

 of short ones, for there is more chance for crooks and 

 bends. It follows that in a pile of sixteen-inch kindling 

 wood four feet high and eight feet long, there is con- 

 siderably more wood than in a third of a cord of standard- 

 length sticks. 



The solid wood content of a cord varies so much, — 

 from fifty to one hundred ten cubic feet, — that no defi- 

 nite statement can be made in regard to it, but it is well 

 to have the preceding points in mind when buying cord- 

 wood. 



The term "cord" does not always mean a standard 

 cord. Its meaning varies in different localities. The 

 length of the sticks varies from one foot to five feet, and 

 yet a pile four feet high and eight feet long is known as 

 a cord. Sometimes the distinction between short cords 

 and long cords is made. They all sell as cords, but the 

 proper allowance for the length of the sticks is made in 

 the price. 



Another case in which anything like a general statement 

 is only a guess that is rarely realized, is in the conversion 

 of cords to board measure. Yet in some cases, — when 

 large sized material is cut into short lengths, — both units 

 of measurement are used, and it is convenient to have some 

 factor by which to convert one into terms of the other. 

 Since this ratio varies from 250 feet to the cord in some 

 o 



