1904 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



323 



quickly to good soil and moisture. The 

 species which will grow on the uplands 

 may be depended upon to do as well or 

 better in the valleys, but the reverse case 

 is far from being true. Hundreds' of 

 failures in upland planting in Kansas 

 and Nebraska have resulted simply 

 because the cottonwood, willow, soft 

 maple, and box elder of the lowlands 

 were expected to thrive in the drier 

 situations. Some trees, the hackberry 

 aud elm, for instance, which grow natur- 

 ally along water-courses, do well under 

 cultivation on the upland, while others 

 found in company with the hardy species 

 fail entirely when the change is at- 

 tempted. 



The experimental stage has passed, 

 and now the planter can use species 

 whose worth has been proven, whatever 

 his locality. There are local depressions 

 on the upland which catch considerable 

 run-off, and so are suited to species 

 which need more than the normal pre- 

 cipitation of the region. In such a place 

 on the high upland of Wallace county 

 the writer was surprised one day to find 

 a row of black walnuts, neglected in the 

 sod, yet looking well and bearing nuts. 

 It was the result of the haphazard plant- 

 ing of some settler who had long since 

 departed and of whose sod house only 

 a heap of dirt remained. The explana- 

 tion was simple. A cattle trail and 

 wheel tracks served to conduct the rain- 

 fall dow r n the gentle grade to a shallow 

 basin, and the instant the point was 

 passed where water collected occasion- 

 ally, only a few small stumps were left 

 to tell the tale of drouth and disaster. 

 Nearly every quarter section has some 

 spot of an acre or more of this character 

 which could be profitably utilized for 

 tree planting. By putting the moisture- 

 requiring species in the favored situa- 

 tions and the drouth-resisting ones else- 

 where, the planter's range of choice is 

 extended with most beneficial results. 



HOW TO PLANT. 



For plantations of the common broad- 

 leaf species, one-year-old seedlings are 

 best to use, since they are easier han- 

 dled and much cheaper than older trees. 

 They ordinarily run from one to two feet 

 high, and have no branches to speak 



of, so that little pruning is required. 

 If the ground has been well prepared 

 and is moist, the setting can be done 

 very rapidly. A man and a boy work 

 well together. The boy carries the 

 trees and hands them to the man as 

 wanted. The latter sets his spade full 

 length in the ground, throws the handle 

 forward, sticks a seedling in behind the 

 blade, removes the spade, steps firmly 

 with both feet on the ground around 

 the tree, and the operation is complete, 

 the whole thing not taking more than 

 half a minute. A number of seedlings 

 can be carried in a bucket partially filled 

 with water or in a basket, with a wet 

 cloth covering the roots, the remainder 

 of the stock being left heeled in until 

 needed. Another rapid method is to 

 plow a furrow where the row of trees 

 is wanted, lay them against the side of 

 it, cover with a hoe, and tramp firmly. 

 The remaining dirt can be thrown back 

 with a cultivator. 



Of course, it should be distinctly un- 

 derstood that these methods are only for 

 the common broadleaf species when the 

 right conditions exist, and will result 

 in failure w r hen applied to larger trees 

 or evergreens. The important thing in 

 all cases is to have the soil come into 

 close contact with the roots ; otherwise 

 the air will get in and dry out both soil 

 and roots. It is a good practice to set 

 deep enough so that w 7 hen the operation 

 is finished the trees stand in a shallow 

 depression. This will catch the rain 

 and materially increase the chances of 

 success in a dry season. An essential 

 element in planting is suitable weather. 

 Occasionally there are springs in west- 

 ern Kansas when it is altogether useless 

 to set trees unless water can be supplied 

 whenever needed. The planter who 

 raises his own seedlings can take ad- 

 vantage of favorable conditions, have 

 his trees perfectly fresh, and set when 

 he pleases, or even let them wait until 

 another year. 



CULTIVATION. 



Successful forest planting on the 

 plains, where the rainfall is light and 

 the evaporation great, depends largely 

 upon the proper cultivation of the plan- 

 tation. Nature has bountifully pro- 



