INTRODUCTION. 13 
left, will often prove to be a better plan and a much more 
profitable one than to clear off and plow up the soil. 
If a particular kind of timber is wanted, then those 
trees should be left in preference to others. How few 
there are who have ever made a calculation of the value 
of an acre of White Oak, Hickory, Chestnut, or White Ash! 
As we find these in our native forests, they are mixed 
with other trees, often with those that are comparatively 
worthless. But suppose we have an acre purely of one 
kind, and that of the most valuable. What kind is most 
valuable must be ascertained by the grower himself, for it 
will depend upon his location, and which is in the greatest 
demand in his nearest market. Suppose we take Hickory, 
which is always in demand, when young, for hoop-poles, as 
it becomes larger for other purposes. There are other 
kinds equally as valuable and of more rapid growth. 
Now the young one or two year old plants, or even the 
nuts, may be put in rows four feet apart, and the plants 
one foot apart in the row; this will give 10,890 to the 
acre. At this distance they can be allowed to remain 
until they are six to eight feet high and one or two inches 
in diameter. They should reach this size in five to eight 
years, according to the soil and the care they receive. 
Then they should be thinned, by taking out every alter- 
nate tree; this should be done by cutting them off near 
the ground. We therefore take out 5,445 trees suitable 
for hoop-poles. Their value will of course depend upon the 
market, but we will say four cents each, or $40 per 1,000, 
which would be a low price in New York; this would give 
$217 80 (two hundred and seventeen dollars and eighty 
