THINNING. 



249 



tation ?" We cannot, it is replied, plant the oaks 

 much thicker than is above specified, without being 

 under the necessity not only of clearing away the 

 nurses at an age when they will be of little value, 

 but of thinning the oaks themselves before they 

 have attained a marketable size. The same oak, if 

 felled at thirty, will scarce bring the fourth part of 

 the price which it will do if it is allowed to grow 

 till it be fifty years old, supposing it to continue in 

 a thriving state till that time. These remarks, it 

 is hoped, will sufficiently explain my views, and save 

 me from the charge of caprice, in recommending 

 that five hundred oaks be planted on an acre. Af- 

 ter bestowing considerable attention on the subject, 

 I think it would be productive of loss to plant either 

 many more or many fewer. It is but fair, however, 

 to allow, that, on this point, my opinion is founded 

 rather on careful calculation than on actual experi- 

 ence. 



But to return from this digression, I remarked a 

 little above, that it would be requisite to say a few 

 words on the process of thinning, as it applies to 

 oak, in addition to what is elsewhere said on that 

 subject, in reference to wood in general. These 

 supplementary directions will relate to the mechani- 

 cal part of the operation merely, and they are ren- 



