MARKET AND STUMPAGE. 19 



CORD WOOD. 



Cordwood has a smaller market value, volume for volume, than 

 any other of the principal forest products. Although it is used for 

 fuel all over the State and markets for it exist in all the larger towns 

 and cities, it is so abundant that the sale price often barely covers 

 the cost of getting it to market. Except near large towns, a haul of 5 

 or 6 miles is usually sufficient to make cordwood cutting unprofitable. 

 The annual waste of good cordwood material in tops and limbs left 

 in the woods after the removal of lumber, ties, and poles is often 

 enormous. In one case this loss was estimated at 10,000 cords per 

 year for an area less than 10 miles square. 1 



Much of this waste can be avoided by coaling the wood in the for- 

 est, when the reduced weight of the charcoal permits of longer hauls 

 with profit. Charcoal burning has declined of late years, because 

 of the large substitution of coke for fuel in iron manufacture and of 

 the importation of charcoal from other States. In many parts of 

 Connecticut, however, charcoal burning still goes on, chiefly at points 

 too far from market for cordwood to be hauled profitably. 



The principal species used for cordwood are chestnut, oaks, maple, 

 hickory, and gray birch. Of these, hickory has the highest fuel 

 value, and near cities sometimes sells for from $7 to $8 per cord whole- 

 sale, cut in 4 or 5 foot lengths. Birch is ordinarily of little value 

 because of its liability to decay and brings a price of from $3 to $4 

 per cord. It is excellent, however, for burning in open fireplaces, 

 and sometimes sells for as much as $7. Maple, chiefly "soft," 

 "swamp," or red maple, sells at from $3.25 to $4.75 per cord whole- 

 sale, oak at from $3.50 to $5, and chestnut at from $3 to $4.25. 

 "Mixed hardwoods," mostly oak and maple, usually bring from 

 $3.50 to $4.75 wholesale. Wood delivered directly to the consumer 

 brings more, of course, than when sold to dealers. 



PILES, POSTS, AND RAILS. 



Its durability makes chestnut the species best suited for piles, 

 posts, and rails, though other species are also used. Piling is sold 

 by the running foot to an upper diameter of 7 inches. Twenty cents 

 per running foot is the common price for 40 to 45 foot piles, though 

 buyers sometimes succeed in getting them for as little as 14 cents. 

 Specifications for fence posts usually call for chestnut, sound and 

 'free from shakes and rotten knots, 7 \ to 8 feet long, with 6 inches 

 top diameter, and with bark removed. They sell at from 14 to 35 

 cents apiece in different portions of the State. Railing commands 

 about 3 cents per running foot, delivered at side of road. It is used 

 to a diameter at the smaller end of about 4 inches. 



i Bulletin 1(2, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, Forest Survey of Litchfield and New 

 Haven Counties, p. 22. 



