190 



THE FORESTER. 



August, 



tured they are at a standstill. The effect it maybe possible to find for every section 

 of pasturage is not so noticeable upon of the state, species that will thrive and 



planted timber, because stock is often not 

 admitted to the groves until the trees are 

 too large to be destroyed. But the effect 

 upon reproduction is as fatal in planted as 

 in natural timber. Since reproduction 

 cannot take place, no plantation can be 

 permanent if regularly pastured. 



FIG. 2. ROCK PINE OX THE EXTREME EASTERX LIMIT 



OF ITS RANGE. THIS TREE GROWS OVER THE DRY 



HILLSIDES OF WESTERN NEBRASKA, BUT IS NOT 



ADAPTED TO THE EASTERN PART OF THE 



STATE. BURWELL, NEBRASKA. 



The agencies just mentioned are receiv- 

 ing close study in this summer's investiga- 

 tion. They act differently upon the dif- 

 ferent species of trees, and on this account 

 the problem is very intricate. But be- 

 cause trees are affected differently by such 

 agencies as soil, water, wind, and grazing 



even become valuable as timber. 



The foregoing indicates the primary ob- 

 ject of the investigation. We want to 

 find out whether there are forest trees 

 which will make a profitable growth in 

 western Nebraska. There are over ten 

 million acres of government land in this 

 state. Nearly all of it is unfit for 

 farming, and at least a third of it 

 is poor grazing land. The part 

 unfit for farming: and grazing: be- 

 longs to two classes. One class 

 consists of very broken, clay land 

 in the western part of the state ; 

 the other class consists of almost 

 pure sand in the sand hill region. 

 The clay land originally held a 

 scant growth of Rock Pine (Bull 

 Pine) and Red Cedar. Very little 

 of the timber remains now, but 

 the fact that it once grew is proof 

 positive that it will grow again if 

 given an opportunity. The sand 

 hills, so far as our knowledge 

 goes, have not been timbered. 

 Their adaptability to trees must, 

 therefore, be studied from general 

 conditions and from planting done 

 since the settlement of the country. 

 We have one case of pines flour- 

 ishing with great vigor, under 

 typical sand-hill conditions. 



In the spring of 1S90, the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture sent a 

 large number of pines for plant- 

 ing on the sand hills in the south- 

 west part of Holt County. One 

 of the worst possible locations 

 was chosen. The land being too 

 sandy to admit of plowing, the 

 trees were set in furrows run 

 through the sod. Not a stroke 

 of cultivation has been given 

 since. The plantation contains 

 species, Scotch, Austrian, Rock, 

 Banksian Pine. The Scotch and 

 are from six to eight 



four 

 and 



Austrian Pines 

 feet high ; the Rock Pine from four to six 

 feet, and the Banksian Pine from twelve 

 to eighteen feet. The trees are now en- 

 tering upon their period of greatest growth. 



