The landowner now plants because he wants trees. Consequently 

 he is careful in his choice, and gives more after attention than did his 

 predecessors. 



TERRITORY COVERED. 



The region most closely examined for this report was that part of 

 the State westward of the ninety-ninth meridian, which passes near 

 Kearney, Nebr., along the western edge of Smith, Osborne, Russell, 

 Barton, Stafford, Pratt, and Barber counties, in Kansas, and a few 

 miles west of Alva, Okla. But since the State boundary is wholly 

 artificial, the conclusions reached apply equally well to neighboring 

 portions of other States. The study may therefore be said properly 

 to cover the territory lying between the Platte and the Cimarron 

 rivers, and between the ninety-ninth and one hundred and third 

 meridians. It thus includes a little of northern Oklahoma, a con- 

 siderable strip of eastern Colorado, and a portion of southwestern 

 Nebraska. 



PHYSICAL FEATURES. 



This region is a part of the long eastward slope from the Rocky 

 Mountains called the " Great Plains," and on the west includes much 

 of the subdivision which geologists have named the " High Plains." 

 The altitude runs from between 1,500 and 2,000 feet on the eastern 

 border to 4,000 and over on the western. Although the rise is so 

 uniform as to be scarcely perceptible, with the increasing elevation 

 and diminishing precipitation fewer forest species can be grown suc- 

 cessfully. 



The principal rivers are the Republican, Solomon, Saline, Smoky 

 Hill, and Arkansas. Smaller tributary streams and creeks are quite 

 numerous. 



The soil on the uplands is generally of the type named by Professor 

 Hay " plains marl," and has great depth and fertility. Much of the 

 soil in southern Nebraska is loess, the good qualities of which are well 

 known. In Oklahoma and southern Kansas occur the strikingly red 

 sands and clays of the Red Bed formation. Valley soils are fre- 

 quently loamy sand or sandy loam along the main streams, and of 

 heavier character in the minor creek bottoms. Correlated with this 

 difference in soil between the main and tributary streams is the 

 noticeable preponderance of natural timber along the latter. Along 

 the south side of the Arkansas is a belt of sand hills, narrow in the 

 upper part, but widening to some 30 miles south of Great Bend. 



Since soil conditions are very uniform, only the types of location 

 based on relative situation, viz, valley and upland, are used in this 

 report. Valley or low r land areas are those along streams, where per- 

 manent water exists at not more than 25 feet, a depth beneath the sur- 



[Cir. 161.] 



