made. Out of 100 trees of 11 inches and over whose butt logs could 

 be split two-thirds remain entire!}' unsj)lit, and of the remainder only 

 a small number are split into the number of ties justified by the size 

 of the logs. 



Table 1 brings out strikingly tlie wastefulness of the present man- 

 ner of tie cutting. Where ties were being cut 100 trees, embracing 

 all diameters from 10 to 19 inches, were measured, the actual number 

 of ties yielded b}^ each ascertained, and the total cubic contents of 

 each of the trees, as well as the contents of the portion used for ties, 

 computed. 



• 

 Table 1. — Was'te in produc'nuj slah cross-ties.c 



Diameter! Volume ; Volume I 

 of trees | of usable \ of used ' Ties pro- 

 breast- I length length of I duced. 

 high. I of tree. : tree. I 



Inches, j Cubic feet. Cub icfeet. 



14.3 

 18.5 

 22.7 

 27.0 

 31.8 

 37.6 

 45.0 

 54.5 

 65.5 



6.1 

 9.5 

 12.8 

 16.2 

 20.0 

 24.5 

 29.6 

 35.7 

 43.1 

 51.3 



Xumber. 

 1.3 

 1.7 

 2.1 

 2.5 

 2.9 



4.2 

 4.7 

 5.2 



Waste of u.sed 

 length of tree. 



CuUcfeet. 



2.6 



5.0 



7.2 



9.5 



12.3 



15.7 



19.7 



24.5 



30.6 



37.4 



Per cent. 

 43 

 53 

 56 

 59 

 62 

 64 

 67 

 69 

 71 

 73 



Waste of usable 

 length of tree. 



Cu.feet. 

 10.8 

 14.0 

 17.1 

 20.3 

 24.1 

 28.8 

 35.1 

 43.3 

 53.0 

 62.6 



Per ct. 

 76 

 76 

 75 

 75 

 76 

 77 

 78 

 79 

 81 

 82 



Wood used 



for one tie 



based on 



u.sed length 



of tree. 



Wood used 

 for one tie 

 based on 



usable 



length of 



tree. 



Cubic feet. 

 4.7 

 5.6 

 6.1 

 6.5 

 6.9 

 7.4 

 8.0 

 8.5 

 9.2 



Cubic feet. 

 11.0 

 10.9 

 10.8 

 10.8 

 11.0 

 11.4 

 12.2 

 33.0 

 13.9 

 14.7 



"As.suming each tie to contain 2.67 cubic feet. 



Thus from 43 to 73 per cent of the logs used for ties and from 75 to 

 82 per cent of the whole tree are entirely wasted. This waste is enor- 

 mous if we consider how much wood must be consumed to produce the 

 20,102,000 ties which are each year cut in the region. It amounts to 

 about 221,122.000 cubic feet of wood, on the basis of the entire mer- 

 chantable contents of the tree, or 140.714,000 cubic feet of logs, on the 

 basis of the part actualh' cut. Of the total amount of timber cut 

 for ties, nearly three-fourths is wasted. That this waste can be much 

 reduced is proved b}^ tie cutting in Germany. There also the major- 

 ity of ties are hewed, while the common tie is larger than our standard 

 tie. It is 8.17 feet (2.5 meters) long, has 10.2 inches (26 cm.) face, 

 is 6.29 inches (16 cm.) thick, and contains 3.5 cubic feet instead 

 of our 2.67 cubic feet. Yet in Germany it takes only from 4.4 to 5 

 cubic feet of log to produce one tie, while in this countr}^ it takes 

 on an average from 7.5 to 8 cubic feet of log to produce a smaller 

 tie. In siDite of very strict specifications, the waste of timber in 

 hewing does not there exceed 30 or 40 per cent of the log, while in 

 this country it reaches 73 per cent, to say nothing of the top, which 

 remains entirely unused. The waste in hewung oak ties is greater 



[Cir. lis.] 



