RAINFALL IN NEBRASKA. 51 



fire. When, however, the spot was reached the ground was often 

 so covered with young trees from one to five years old that it was 

 difficult to penetrate through the mass of tangled limbs. Where 

 small areas were not crowded with young trees the grasses were 

 growing with a luxuriance that surprised many of the old residents 

 of the mountains. Take for example the side of Griffith Mountain 

 on the south side of Georgetown. The timber here was removed 

 for fuel and other purposes. In spots over its denuded surface 

 countless numbers of young pines, spruce and quaking asps from 

 six inches to four feet high are making their appearance. Where 

 squirrels and birds failed to plant seeds for another forest luxuriant 

 grasses and magnificent flowers cover the ground. Every nook 

 and corner among the rocks seems to be utilized for plant life. I 

 found the same condition of things on the mountain sides around 

 Middle Park. As all who have visited this beautiful region will 

 remember, the mouutain slopes are here very densely timbered, 

 and wherever I found the timber here destroyed by fires a young 

 crop was struggling to take its place. On going north from Grand 

 Lake for twenty-five miles along the western base of the main 

 range, and in sight of the Rabbit-ear mountains, about twelve miles 

 of my route, passed through fallen timber that had been destroyed a 

 few years ago by a huge fire. Some sections of this desolation 

 was already covered by a dense growth of pine from two to four 

 feet high, while in other spots the young trees were just be- 

 ginning to make their appearance. In some places it was 

 hard to tell whether the grasses or the trees would gain the 

 mastery. This section of the park is rarely visited, owing, 

 probably, to the absence of roads or trails, and yet no part is 

 more beautiful or has grander scenery. I was accompa 

 nied by D. N. Smith, of Burlington, Iowa, and both of us were 

 conducted by a notable guide, George W. Cole, whom we found 

 exceedingly intelligent and perfectly reliable, and who never flinch- 

 ed when we were in a tight place. The rapidity of growth of the 

 mountain timber has also been underestimated. I measured a great 

 many pines and spruces in Berthoud Pass that had made a growth 

 of from five to eleven inches during the year. Some quak- 

 ing asps on Willow Mountain had made a growth of fourteen 

 inches. 



These facts, which, if space permitted, would be greatly multi- 

 plied, demonstrate that those are greatly mistaken who insist that 



