209.
"In some regions there are many small, stunted hickories, which most users will not touch.

They have narrow sap, are likely to be birdpecked, and show very slow growth.

Yet five of these trees from a steep, dry south slope in West Virginia had an average strength fully equal to that of the pignut from the better situation, and were superior in toughness, the work to maximum load being 36.8 as against 31.2 for pignut.

The trees had about twice as many rings per inch as others from better situations.
"This, however, is not very significant, as trees of the same species, age, and size, growing side by side under the same conditions of soil and situation, show great variation in their technical value.

It is hard to account for this difference, but it seems that trees growing in wet or moist situations are rather inferior to those growing on fresher soil; also, it is claimed by many hickory users that the wood from limestone soils is superior to that from sandy soils.
"One of the moot questions among hickory men is the relative value of northern and southern hickory.