584 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Niobrara River and in 191 5 ground was broken for 

 nursery purposes. The work here will be rapidly pushed 

 along the same lines as at Halsey. 



The trees are dug in the spring and hauled immediately 

 to the planting site. Temporary camps are established 

 throughout the hills. A barn accommodating forty 

 horses, a mess house in which fifty men can be fed, and 

 bunk houses accommodating twelve men each, are built 

 in sections so that they can be moved conveniently every 

 four years. Wells, 100 to 150 feet deep, must be sunk 



small trees with the dirt they push out from their run- 

 ways and also eat the roots of the larger trees. 



To protect the plantations from fires they are divided 

 by fire lines into units of about 160 acres. These con- 

 sist of two plowed strips a rod wide placed from 100 

 to 150 feet apart. In the fall the grass between the 

 plowed strips is burned off. This system has proved 

 very effective and there have been no fires in the plan- 

 tations since 191 0. 



The remnant of Nebraska's once large herds of deer 



r 



LOOKING DOWN ALONG THE FIRE LINE 



Jack pine, established in 1913, to the right of the fire line; yellow pine, established from 1907 to 1909, to the left of the fire line. Nebraska Forest. 

 A few single fire lines have been constructed for use in back firing or for stopping ground fires. 



for water. One section (640 acres) is planted annually 

 and the camps are arranged so as to be centrally located. 



The trees are planted in furrows, a side hill or reversi- 

 ble plow being used for this purpose. A machine called 

 a trencher, which consists of a V-shaped piece of iron 

 attached to a plow beam, follows the plow and makes a 

 slit in the middle of the furrow into which the roots of 

 the trees are placed. The planter closes the slit with a 

 thrust of his foot. A crew of six planters will set from 

 twelve to fifteen thousand trees per day. About 35 horses 

 and 45 men are used in the average camp during the 

 planting operation. In addition about fifty men are em- 

 ployed at the nursery digging trees, transplanting, sowing 

 seed, etc. The spring operation lasts from a month to 

 six weeks. 



Approximately 3,500 acres have been planted success- 

 fully at a cost of about $16.00 per acre. From 1,500 to 

 i,8oo trees are set per acre. At present survivals of 

 fifty to sixty per cent can be expected in the driest season, 

 while under favorable conditions ninety per cent of the 

 trees will live. Losses have been caused by drought, 

 pocket gophers and fires. The pocket gophers bury the 



are to be found on this forest. Frequently they are to be 

 seen taking advantage of the shelter afforded by the 

 young forest. Thus the future forest, located in the 

 midst of a treeless country, will be a game refuge, a 

 future playground for people in the prairie country, and 

 a source of timber. 



PLANTING TREES IN FARM GULLIES 



P LANTING trees in farm gullies is a reclamatory 

 -* measure advocated by the Forest Service of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture. The results 

 are of two-fold advantage, as not only are the trees 

 valuable in themselves but their presence stops the gully 

 erosion. In the north Atlantic and mountain states and 

 in the Mississippi Valley the locust is well adapted for 

 this use as it has a large root system, grows rapidly and 

 makes one of the most lasting woods for fence posts. 

 The little trees may be dug up in locust thickets or 

 obtained from commercial nurseries. 



In other sections the native shortleaf pine is one of 

 the best varieties for reclaiming gullies as it exerts even 

 when young a marked influence in holding the soil. 

 When set out in gulKes, its growth is fairly rapid and in 

 a few years it forms a complete protective cover. 



