58 THE woodsman's handbook. 



CORD MEASURE. 



Firewood, small pulp wood, and material cut into short sticks 

 for excelsior, etc., is usually measured by the cord. A cord is 128 

 cubic feet of stacked wood. The wood is usually cut into 4-foot 

 lengths, in which case a cord is a stack 4 feet high and wide, and 

 8 feet long. Sometimes, however, pulp wood is cut 5 feet long, and 

 a stack of it 4 feet high 5 feet wide and 8 feet long is considered 1 

 cord. In this case the cord contains 160 cubic feet of stacked 

 wood. Where firewood is cut in 5-foot lengths a cord is a stack 4 feet . 

 high and 6 J feet long, and contains 130 cubic leet of stacked wood. 

 Where it is desirable to use shorter lengths for special purposes, the 

 sticks are often cut 1 J, 2, or 3 feet long. A stack of such wood, 4 feet 

 high and 8 feet long, is considered 1 cord, but the price is always 

 made to conform to the shortness of the measure. 



A cord foot is one-eighth of a cord and is equivalent to a stack of 

 4-foot wood 4 feet high and 1 foot wide. Farmers frequently speak 

 of a foot of cord wood, meaning a cord foot. By the expression ''sur- 

 face foot" is meant the number of square feet measured on the side 

 of a stack. 



In some localities, particularly in New England, cord wood is 

 measured by means of calipers. Instead of stacking the wood and 

 computing the cords in the ordinary way, the average diameter 

 of each log is determined with calipers and the number of cords 

 obtained by consulting a table which gives the amount of wood 

 in logs of different diameters and lengths. i 



TIMBER ESTIMATING. « 



The purpose of estimating standing timber is to determine the 

 quantity of specific products which can be cut from a definite area, 

 and the estimate usually is made to furnish a basis for purchase or 

 sale. The buyer expects to be able to cut the estimated amount 

 of timber from the tract under the conditions existing at the time 



a The authors are indebted to Prof. H. H. Chapman, of the Yale Forest School, 



hr assistance in revising this chapter. 



