e said for the idea of undertaking
the practice of forestry upon a rather liberal scale using Eastern Black
walnut trees as a foundation.

In the first place, I ask, what living thing upon one's farm will cause
less labor than a forest tree? I know of none. This fulfills the first
requirement. A forest tree calls for a minimum of attention as
compared with other crops. This is especially true if one permits
livestock to keep down weeds and brush. And here I am likely to be
called a heretic. The authorities say, "No grazing in a forest".
However, in this field of forestry there are some traditional maxims
which, to say the least, are not capable of universal application. The
authorities, too, have been known to rely upon what other authorities
tell them--without investigating the facts for themselves. It is not
well to rely too implicitly or trustfully upon the "authorities", either
ecclesiastical or scientific. "No grazing" is a valid enough rule to
follow in the ordinary forest, but I have found that after the trees are
well grown we can graze the land under a deep-rooted walnut tree which
is planted in deep, rich soil as we would graze any meadow land--in
reason and in moderation. The practice is profitable for annual income
and it keeps down the fire hazard. One bad fire in an ungrazed or unmown
piece of brush-covered undergrowth can destroy in an hour 50 years of
timber growth. If we plant deep-rooted nut trees in deep, rich soil, and
if we fertilize that soil as any valuable permanent pasture land is
fertilized, we can graze that land without injury to the trees or the
land.

One other reason which is given for the prohibition of grazing is the
desire to save young tree growth. This is justified in ordinary forestry
practice by the need to get annual income through successive cuttings.
The young growth must be encouraged to come on. Even so, it must be
thinned as it comes. However, a forest of black walnut trees yields its
annual income in another way--through its nuts and its livestock.

Trees in such a forest should be planted close enough together to cause
them to reach straight up as they grow. They will not all reach straight
up, of course, but enough will do so to produce as many saw-logs as will
normally grow in a forest; that is, if they have been properly planted
in the first place.

In my own modified forest-type planting, the black walnut trees stand 8
feet apart in rows 20 feet apart. The 20-foot sp