1904 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



1 8.s 



the forest area will extend across this 

 slope also. 



Another tract between two ' ' draws ' 

 that converge at the timber line is being 

 covered with a growth of white and red 

 elm. green ash. black oak, bur oak. 

 wild cherry and sycamore. In places 

 as many as twelve or fifteen trees are 

 found on a single square rod. In size 

 they vary from mere sprouts to fifteen 

 or twenty feet in height. In a few 

 years the smaller trees and underbrush 

 will be suppressed and true forest con- 

 ditions will prevail. The forest area 

 is being extended up this ridge a dis- 

 tance of forty rods beyond the timber 

 line of fifteen years ago. At that time 

 the tract was fairly well covered with 

 a growth of hazel brush, ground oak 

 and sumac. This tract has been browsed 

 over continuously by horses and cattle 

 (for the past eight years by sheep al- 

 but they have not been able noticeably 

 to check the timber growth. 



Two miles farther downstream there 

 is a tributary a couple of miles in length. 

 It is skirted by a vigorous growth of 

 young timber, in which oak and walnut 

 predominate. At places the timber belt 

 is fifteen to twenty rods in width. An 

 old settler informed me that thirty-two 

 years ago. when he took his claim, there 

 were only a few scattering trees along 

 the stream. From personal observations 

 of the writer and from the testimony of 

 old settlers, it seems beyond question 

 that along the creek and its tributaries 

 the forest area has increased several fold 

 since the first settlements were made, 

 about thirty-five years ago. 



But it is not alone along the streams 

 that the tendency to an increase of for- 

 est areas may be noted. On the home 

 farm a lot of worthless plum trees were 

 allowed to stand as a windbreak. They 

 are being supplanted by box-elder, elm. 

 and wild cherry. 



On an adjoining section a small rocky 

 knoll is enclosed in the corner of a corn- 

 field. An old wagon trail, several cattle 

 paths and a former haystack have killed 

 the virgin sod at these places. Clumps 

 of elm and honey locust have taken pos- 

 - -?ion, and the trees have attained a 

 height of twelve to fifteen feet. 



More remarkable still are the condi- 



tions that prevail along a steep, rocky 

 hillside on the same section. The sur- 

 face of the ground is liberally strewn 

 with glacial boulders of quartzite, while 

 in -many places the rocky soil affords 

 but a scantv foothold for the prairie 

 sod. The land has been pastured for 

 years. There are a number of old cattle 

 paths and washed places. These have 

 been taken possession of by white-elm. 

 box-elder and honey-locust trees, while 

 the sodded portion of the hill contains 

 clumps of sumac and wild plum. The 

 trees show evidence of severe browsing, 

 but they seem destined to survive, as 

 the crowns of many of them are now 

 beyond the reach of stock. These in- 

 stances suggest that the prairie sod has 

 been an important factor in retarding 

 the spread of for. si . ees. 



For a distance of a mile th. . - an 

 untrimmed hedge along the pasture re- 

 ferred to above. Between the hedge and 

 the wagon track, there is a growth of 

 sumac and wild plum. In this thicket 

 has sprung a dense growth of elm. 

 honey locust, box-elder, and wild cherry. 

 A few of the trees have attained a 

 height of twenty-five feet. From this 

 they grade down to mere sprouts of a 

 season's growth. In many cases these 

 young trees are denser than a good stand 

 of corn. While the timber growth has 

 made unusual headway here, owing to 

 the negligence of the land owner and 

 the road overseer, there is a marked 

 tendency for trees to spring up along 

 the road side fence rows and waste 

 places everywhere. Even cultivated 

 fields are not exempt from their at- 

 tempts to obtain a foothold. I doubt 

 whether it is possible to find a single 

 farm in this section of the state that 

 does not contain more or less evidence 

 of the natural spreading of forest trees. 



The forest conditions along Pony 

 Creek that have been describe-d some- 

 what in detail are not essentially differ- 

 ent from those to be found along the 

 oth 3b _ams in the county. Personal 

 observations have extended from the 

 Missouri River westward to the Blue 

 and southward to the Kansas River. In 

 passing v - .rd from the Misse 

 there is a gi .:al restriction of fc i - 

 areas and a decrease in the nun: . 



