62 THE COMMERCIAL HICKORIES. 



trees and produces the heaviest, strongest, and toughest wood. 

 Since the best material is obtained from thrifty trees, the object of 

 management should be to make the hickories clean themselves early, 

 and then, after sufficient clear length has been formed, to make them 

 grow fast. For this purpose the ax should be used freely wherever 

 it is possible to utilize the thinnings. Such inferior species as beech, 

 maple, black oak, elm, and bitternut, as well as defective trees of 

 all species, should be cut out wherever they interfere with the shag- 

 barks, pignuts, big shellbarks, and mockernuts. These thinnings 

 should be repeated every eight to ten years until the forest assumes 

 the form of a rather open upper story of thrifty hickory, white oak, 

 black walnut, yellow poplar, and ash, with an understory of young 

 growth, largely young hickory. Intelligent cutting thus can increase 

 greatly the proportion of hickory in the forest and can improve the 

 quality of the wood by hastening its growth. In such a forest the 

 hickories finally should be cut when they have reached a diameter 

 of about 12 inches. At this diameter, on moderately good soil, they 

 will be increasing in volume at the rate of about 4 per cent a year; 

 at 14 inches the increase is about 3 per cent, and at 16 inches 2J 

 per cent. 



It will not be wise, however, to establish a hard and fast diameter 

 limit, because the condition in which the stand is to be left must be 

 taken into consideration. Smaller trees may be cut wherever there 

 is promising young growth to take their places. If it is desired to 

 increase still further the proportion of hickories in the stand, the 

 trees should be left longer, and they must also be left longer where 

 the other species are cut to a large diameter limit or where it is 

 impossible to give the stand much attention. In mountainous and 

 inaccessible regions, therefore, where oak is cut to a diameter limit 

 of 18 or 20 inches and inferior species and defective trees are usually 

 left, the hickories should hardly be cut to a smaller diameter than 

 15 inches. 



Particular attention should be given to protecting the young 

 growth. Woodlot owners should make special provision for this in 

 the contracts for the sale of stumpage. The cutting of hoop poles 

 should be discouraged, and it is a fortunate fact that the business is 

 now becoming unprofitable. The straightest, cleanest saplings inva- 

 riably are cut, and scrubby, knotty, and crooked specimens are left 

 to form the basis of the future crop. Pasturing should be prohib- 

 ited, and every means possible should be taken to guard against fire. 



SUMMARY. 



On the economic side the following facts are apparent: Hickory 

 has a number of important special uses for which no satisfactory 

 substitute is known, and the hickory of commerce is derived almost 



