THREE PIONEERSHIPS 



the white man came, because the Indians 

 did not protect the soil and never thought of 

 doing aught to increase its fertility. Forest 

 fires broke out and the Indians let them 

 burn away all the trees. Then the grasses 

 came up and burned. When the trees tried 

 to sprout again the grass fires cut down the 

 little shoots. So you have over our enor- 

 mous plains and hills, where the soil is so 

 fertile, and where cattle range up and down, 

 a scene which, compared to its earlier state, 

 looks like a wilderness. Nature never in- 

 tended that land to be bare. Only give 

 Nature the chance to do what Nature once 

 did and still stands ready to do, you can 

 afforest such parts of your territory as you 

 like. Plenty of good timber trees and the 

 best of shade trees will grow in any county 

 in Nebraska. The government foresters 

 have proved this. When a portion of the 

 territory has again been covered with trees, 

 those and the immediately contiguous parts 

 will not need artificial irrigation. 



Thorough culture may take the place of 

 irrigation. By beginning early in the spring 



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