There was an antique post resurected on this topic, but I don’t like to enter into ancient discussions.
Many years ago, before I knew much about building, I was working with an architect who wanted to use construction scraps for end grain flooring. This seemed like a wonderful idea to use waste material for flooring. The only trouble was that he had no idea how much scrap was produced in normal construction or he hadn’t done the math.
The end of a 2×4 is 5.25 sq. in.. In a sq. ft. there would be about 27 pieces. For 15oo sq. ft. of flooring one would need 41,145 pieces. At 1 in. long that would amount to almost 3500 feet of scraps. End grain 6×6 would require 500 feet of lumber.
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Mike,
I think it was in Nashville that I saw an old converted postal depot/post office where the sorting area had a floor of 4x4 ends. It was explained to me that the bedding below was cork. Evidently this eased the wear and tear of the workers.
They used wine corks.
End-grain bedded in sand was once a common factory floor. It didn't require lot of concrete- wood was probably cheaper and more readily available- and it was easy to repair. Split the damaged pieces, pull them out and drive new ones in.
End grain wood blocks were sometimes used for paving streets.
Mike, in the era you're describing, the end of a 2x4 was 8 sq in.