192 



THE FORESTER. 



August, 



But that system, perfectly as it may be 

 carried out, can never supply timber for a 

 treeless region like western Nebraska. 

 There the timber must be established. It 

 must be planted. It would mean but a 

 slight extension of its work, and would 

 be thoroughly in harmony with its present 



attention, and Nebraska will be among the 

 states chiefly interested. With the ques- 

 tion of irrigation, the question of forest 

 planting should be considered. 



The question of forest planting in the 

 western part of the state, is not a new 

 one. It has been advocated by members 



FIG. 4. SUCCESSFUL PLANTATION OF PINES ON SANDHILLS, SOUTHWEST PART OF HOLT 



COUNTY, NEBRASKA. THE LINE OF SAND AROUND THE PLANTATION SHOWS 



WHERE THE FIREGUARD HAS BEEN KEPT PLOWED. 



policy for the government to take up forest 

 planting on land such as has been de- 

 scribed. With its present attitude toward 

 development and especially toward forest 

 management, it is not likely that the gov- 

 ernment would decline to establish a re- 

 serve for forest planting in western Ne- 

 braska. 



If a favorable report results from the 

 investigation now in progress it will fur- 

 nish a basis on which to claim government 

 activities along this line. With such a 

 report, the people of Nebraska can, 

 through their congressional delegation 

 and by direct petition, almost certainly 

 move the government to begin this work. 

 At the next session of congress, the ques- 

 tion of government aid in the irrigation of 

 western lands will draw unprecedented 



of this societv for a number of years, but 

 the possibility of starting a forest in that 

 region has been thought so uncertain, the 

 undertaking so stupendous, and the means 

 of bringing about the movement so limited, 

 that the matter each time has begun and 

 ended with discussion. If the work can 

 be done at all, the following reasons mark 

 this year as the opportune time to begin : 

 1. Before a year some provision will, 

 in all probability, be made for a general 

 classification of the semi-arid lands belong- 

 ing to the government. Irrigable lands 

 will be held for irrigation development, 

 and the remainder sold or leased in large 

 tracts for grazing purposes. Thus will 

 pass the opportunity for reclaiming in the 

 most useful way the land capable of 

 forestation. 





