  Quartic gravity theory is considered with the Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangean
$R+aR^{2}+bR_{\mu \nu}R^{\mu \nu},$ $R_{\mu \nu}$ being Ricci\'s tensor and R
the curvature scalar. The parameters $a$ and $b$ are taken of order 1 km$^{2}.$
Arguments are given which suggest that the effective theory so obtained may be
a plausible approximation of a viable theory. A numerical integration is
performed of the field equations for a free neutron gas. As in the standard
Oppenheimer-Volkoff calculation the star mass increases with increasing central
density until about 1 solar mass and then decreases. However a dramatic
difference exists in the behaviour of the baryon number, which increases
monotonically. The calculation suggests that the theory allows stars in
equilibrium with arbitrary baryon number, no matter how large.
