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scorch the cornfields are generated in the sand-hill region, The only 
remedy would be to cover the hills with a dense vegetation which 
would shade the ground. There is no sod-forming grass that will 
grow there, nor apparently any deep-rooted perennial herb that would 
grow thick enough to cover the ground. ‘The woody flora is the only 
remaining resort, and thus the question presents itself how this may 
be utilized for this purpose. 
REFORESTING THE SAND HILLS. 
I say reforesting, as many, and among them Dr. Chas. I. Bessey, 
think that the sand hills at one time were probably covered with woods. 
Pine logs have at a few places been found buried in the sand. There is 
acanyon in Custer County which still contains living pines. It is hard 
to explain how pine seed could have been carried from the pine ridge 
in Dawes and Sheridan counties to Custer County and none have been 
sown in the intermediate tract. It would be still more strange if the 
seed had come from Long Pine on the Niobrara, which is about 75 miles 
north of this canyon, as it would then have had to cross perhaps one 
hundred ridges of sand hills. Very likely in former days the pines 
erew, if not all over the hills, at least in many places among them. 
The red cedar is at present not uncommon on the hillsides along the 
Dismal River, and I myself found stumps and fragments of this tree at 
several places in the sand hills, where there was no vestige of living 
trees. 
Without doubt trees will grow on the sand hills, if the proper kinds 
are selected and these are given the proper treatment. What species 
would be best, only repeated trials can determine, but these trials must 
be made under the light of facts with which students of forestry are 
already acquainted. The known adaptations of trees are to be com- 
pared with the demands of the proposed environment. A tree that 
can be thought of for this location must fulfill the following conditions: 
1. It must be able to withstand the hot dry winds in the summer 
and the cold dry winds in the winter. It must be a tree in which the 
evaporation is small. The conifers with their small leaf surface would 
suggest themselves as being the best fitted to meet these requirements. 
2, It must be a tree with a deep root system, which can reach the 
permanent moisture. The bull pine or Rocky Mountain yellow pine 
(Pinus ponderosa scopulorum) is little grown by nurserymen, because 
its deep root makes it hard to transplant; but this very fact makes it a 
desirable tree for the, sand-hill region. A very deep root system is not, 
however, as necessary as it may seem, for most of the sand hills are 
better supplied with moisture than is generally believed. In many 
places the sand keeps moist a few inches below the surface, Near 
Plummer Ford I collected Penstemon haydeni on one of the highest 
sand hills, the top of which had recently been formed by sand from a 
blowout. To my surprise, | found the roots of the plant surrounded by 
