FOREST TREES. 41 
proper number to grow to a large size. The value 
at different ages was estimated as follows: 
400 trees per acre, at 30 years old - $375 
400 “ 6 43 “ < 2,250 
400 “es a 59 hi - 10,000- 
400 “ “ ve) “ - 15,000 
It is not, however, necessary to wait thirty years for 
profit from a forest plantation. Many kinds of 
timber yield a return long before the expiration of 
that time. The early thinnings of Oak, Hickory, 
Ash, Chesnut and Birch plantations may be employed 
for hoop-poles, and when too large for that purpose 
are of value for many other uses. 
The European Larch, grown thickly, affords long, 
slender poles, which are useful for fencing and very 
durable; itisalso used for hop-poles and grape-stakes, 
Grown four feet apart—about two thousand seven 
hundred trees on an acre—the Larch will in a few years 
become large enough for fence posts. Round Cedar 
posts (Arbor Vite) sell in Chicago for from twenty- 
two to fifty centseach. The Larch is, if the testimony 
of European writers may be believed, even more 
durable than the Arbor Vite. The following table, 
drawn up by D. C. Scofield, of Elgin, Ilinois, shows 
the size attained in twelve years by forest trees planted 
by himself. The land where the trees grow is dry 
prairie; the soil loamy, the subsoil clayey loam, 
underlaid with gravel at a depth of from six to ten 
feet. The plants when set were from six to twelve 
inches high, and their size, after twelve years’ growth, 
was ascertained by actual measurement. 
4* 
