294 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Trees for shade and ornament: Honey locust, sycamore, American 

 elm, slippery elm, hackberry, white birch, yellow birch, basswood, Ken- 

 tucky coffee tree, red oak, scarlet oak, bur oak, walnut, horse chestnut. 

 red bud or Judas tree, mountain ash, Russian wild olive red ash, green 

 ash, Cottonwood and other poplars, silver maple, tree of heaven, black 

 cherry, willows, catalpa, Colorado blue spruce, Norway spruce, Austrian 

 pine, Scotch pine, white pine, arbor vitae, red cedar, European larch, 

 red fir, white fir. 



None of these lists are exhaustive and many of the trees found in 

 one list may be suited and used to some extent for the purpose heading 

 another list. Other trees may prove of much value after further trial 

 but the value of most of these species in regard to thrift approximate 

 rate of growth, general usefulness and attractiveness is fairly well 

 workcl out. 



FOREST PLANTING IN WESTERN NEBRASKA 



Great potential importance is given to the work in the western por- 

 tion of the state, especially in the sand-hill area. This area covers 

 nearly 15,000,000 acres and, so far, has been largely used for grazing 

 purposes, and owing to the sandy soil, often of a shifting nature, there 

 are immense areas which are not high-class grazing land. Forest plant- 

 ing would add materially to the economic development of the region 

 by adding to its diversity of product. Climatic conditions would also 

 be improved and have a direct value in influencing the production of 

 farm crops over the limited areas where they are at present produced. 

 Grazing will not be disorganized but rather protected and encouraged. 



The sand-hill work started with the Bruner Brothers' plantation in 

 Holt county as a basis. Trees were furnished by the government and 

 the planting site by the Messrs. Bruner. Several species were tried 

 on the poorest sandy soil that could be found. The site was selected 

 with slopes of all exposures. Jack or Banksian pine proved the most 

 successful, Scotch pine next, and western yellow pine third. The grov/th 

 shown by the jack pine at the end of fourteen years was truly remark- 

 able when consideration is given to the fact that the seedlings were 

 taken from the native forests of Minnesota, then planted on the poor 

 sand-hill soil. At the end of this time over 90 per cent of these trees 

 were alive and showed that they were remarkably adapted to thrive 

 under such adverse conditions. The plantation contained at the rate 

 of 4,530 trees to the acre, and during the fourteen years' time one- 

 fourth of the trees averaged over nineteen feet in height, while one-half 

 of the remainder had made a growth averaging sixteen feet in height. 

 Even better results may be expected from the government plantings, 

 since native-grown seedlings will be used and forest conditions will be 

 established over large areas, thus favoring the trees in making a more 

 healthy, vigorous growth. A somewhat remarkable .feature connected 

 with the sand-hill plantations is that so far none have suffered from in- 

 sects or fungus disease. 



