THE USE OF WOOD FOR FUEL. 13 
These machines weigh from 150 to 200 pounds, and cost from 
$170 to $200. They are probably not practical for ordinary cord- 
wood operations where the trees are of comparatively small size. 
The cost of sawing with power saws depends, of course, upon the 
kind and size of wood sawed and upon the prevailing rate of wages. 
With three or four-men crews, wages of 30 to 85 cents per hour, 
and a cut of 16 to 20 cords per day, the average is as follows: 
Cents per cord. 
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Charges for custom work were from 50 cents to $1 per cord, de- 
pending on the number of cuts and the kind of wood, but are now 
between 75 cents and $1.50. 
Splitting is still largely done by hand, often by the consumer in 
his spare time, so that its cost is not an item to be considered in the 
price he pays for wood. Although much larger amounts have been 
split by expert axmen, an average man will seldom split more than 
four cords of stovewood per day. The amount depends, of course, 
on the species of wood. Some woods, such as birch, maple, and.most 
conifers, split very easily; others, such as elm, sycamore, gum, and 
apple, are very hard to split. Most woods split more readily when 
green or partly dry than when dry. Splitting machines are now 
coming into more general use around woodyards where considerable 
quantities of wood are handled. These machines are driven by the 
same engines which run the cutting-up saws, and sawing and split- 
ting are done at the same time. Two men with such a machine can 
split the wood as it comes from the saw. By installing an automatic 
carrier from saw to splitter one man can operate the latter. (See 
fig. 1.) Splitting by machine should not cost more than 75 cents 
per cord. By hand it costs around $1 per cord. 
SEASONING. 
The seasoning of wood for fuel is important, because dry wood 
has a somewhat greater heating value than green wood, is much 
more convenient to use, and is very much lighter in weight and 
therefore can be handled at less cost. In general it seasons more 
rapidly in the late spring and summer than during the remainder of 
the year, and most slowly when cut in late winter. The fact that 
checking is severe in summer does not matter, as this does not injure 
fuel wood. 
The method of stacking depends primarily upon the rapidity with 
which it is desired to have the wood seasoned. A common practice 
