1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



453 



The distribution of the plant em- 

 braces a territory described by Swartz, 

 extending from "the southern border 

 of the Indian Territor}- , northern and 

 western Texas (the eastern Hmit de- 

 fined by a Une from the intersection of 

 latitude 37 with the looth meridian to 

 Dallas; thence south to the Colorado 

 River and southwestward within 20 or 

 30 miles of the Gulf, which is reached 

 near the mouth of the Rio Grande River ) 

 into northern Mexico. Also from the 

 southern borders of Colorado and Utah, 

 through New Mexico, Arizona, and 

 southern Nevada to southern Califor- 

 nia, the western limit defined by a line 



from Tejon Pass over Los Angeles to 

 San Pedro; in lower California; west- 

 ern South America (Andean region to 

 Chile); Argentina and southern Brazil 

 and Jamaica. ' ' 



The screw-bean or Prosopis pubesccns 

 is a variety of the Mesquite. The seed 

 pods or beans are twisted into spiral, 

 cylindrical-like receptacles which hang 

 in clusters. The utility of the tree is 

 similar to that of the Prosopis juliflora, 

 and the pods are also considered very 

 nutritious. Mexicans call the tree tor- 

 nilla, and it is found in Mexico and 

 from New Mexico to southern Califor- 

 nia. 



TREE GROWING IN NEBRASKA. 



A DESCRIPTION OF THE GREATEST UNDERTAKING IN THE 

 TREE PLANTING IvINE EVER ATTEMPTED IN THIS COUNTRY. 



BY 



DR. CHARLES E. BESSEY, 



PROFESSOR OF BOTANY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 



I WAS fortunate enough not long ago 

 to receive an invitation from the 

 officers of the Bureau of Forestry to 

 visit one of the forest reserves in Ne- 

 braska. As is now generally known, 

 two considerable tracts of land in Ne- 

 braska were set aside last spring by 

 President Roosevelt for forest purposes. 

 One of these is in Thomas county and 

 extends from the Dismal River on the 

 south to the middle I^oup River on the 

 north. This one contains about 86,000 

 acres, and is called the " Dismal River 

 Forest Reserve. ' ' The other reserve is 

 in Cherr}^ county, and extends from the 

 Niobrara River on the north to the 

 Snake River on the south. It contains 

 about 1 26,000 acres, and bears the name 

 of the " Niobrara Forest Reserve. " 

 There are then about 212,000 acres of 

 land in these two reserves an area 

 equal to about nine townships, or say 

 about half of an ordinary county in 

 eastern Nebraska. On both reserves 

 there are some native trees growing 

 along the rivers, but for the most part 



the country is a great rolling surface of 

 sand-hills. In fact, it was the purpose 

 of the Bureau of Forestry, as far as pos- 

 sible, to select only sand-hill land for 

 these reserves. 



Ten or eleven years ago the Bureau 

 of Forestry made an experimental plant- 

 ing in the sand-hills of Holt county, 

 and to-day the pine trees in that plot of 

 ground are from sixteen to eighteen feet 

 high, and growing vigorously. In fact, 

 these Pines have grown faster than 

 similar ones planted at about the same 

 time at Lincoln. The result of this ex- 

 periment has been another of the sur- 

 prises that the sand-hill country is in the 

 habit of making from time to time. Few 

 people had faith in the ability of the 

 sand-hills to grow pines, but no one who 

 has seen this experiment now doubts 

 that it is possible to make trees of this 

 kind grow well in the hills. One good 

 experiment like this is worth a great 

 deal of theorizing. 



The Dismal River Reserve is triangu- 

 lar in general outline, its western border 



