COST OF LOGGING 195 



The standard pile of firewood is four feet high, eight feet long 

 and four feet wide. One man may work effectively in putting 

 up wood in this way but two are better when there is much split- 

 ting and sawing. The amount that can be done in a lo-hour 

 day varies with the species, the size of the timber, and the skill 

 of the workman. Softwood is roughly twice as easy to chop 

 as hardwood. In other words the chopper who will put up two 

 cords of softwood per day cannot average better than a cord of 

 hardwood. The size of the timber is also an important factor. 

 Either large or small stuff goes slowly. The ideal size for chop- 

 ping is a tree about eight inches in diameter breast-high. Assum- 

 ing then that from one to three cords may be cut per day the cost 

 per cord of putting up firewood in four foot piles with all the 

 pieces over six inches at the top and split, ranges from $1 to $4. 



Ordinarily the wood is seasoned in the place where cut before 

 hauling. The cost of this is so small that it is usually neglected. 

 It simply amounts to the interest on the money tied up in the 

 firewood for four to eight months. The shorter period will 

 remove two-thirds of the moisture but eight months is required 

 to thoroughly air dry hardwood. 



The cost of hauling varies directly with the weight of a cord of 

 seasoned wood. This ranges from over two tons for hickory to 

 one ton for soft pine. Consequently the cost per cord has varied 

 from 50 cents to $1 per cord per mile. 



Firewood may be marketed either in four foot lengths or sawn 

 to 16 inches so that it will go into a stove and then retailed. 

 Sawing into short lengths has cost from 50 cents to $1 although 

 prices have advanced since 191 7. 



It is apparent from the foregoing discussion that the main 

 factor in determining the price of firewood is the distance which 

 it has to be hauled. The other operations have cost uniformly 

 before the recent advance in prices about $3 per cord for soft- 

 wood and $5 for hardwood. Consequently the maximum dis- 

 tance which wood could be economically hauled was fixed by the 

 price per ton of its competitor, coal. With the latter retailing 

 at $10 per ton both hardwood and softwood could be hauled about 

 five miles with the ordinary types of conveyances. This is based 



