In order to utilize a byte to its fullest potential, I\'m attempting to store two unique values into a byte: one in the first four bits and another in the second four bits. How
A quick look would indicate that a bitwise and can be achieved using the & operator. So to remove the first four bytes you should be able to do:
byte value1=255; //11111111 byte value2=15; //00001111 return value1&value2;