WHERE TO PLANT. 25 



ern Nebraska and Kansas, there are now grow- 

 ing large groves of trees which the settlers 

 have planted, and, as the latter have taken 

 pains also to check the prairie-fires, the lines 

 of native trees along the water-courses have 

 begun to spread, so that it is estimated that 

 the area of spontaneous tree-growth is half as 

 great as that resulting from planting by the 

 settlers. 



There is reason to think we have taken too 

 despondent a view of the practicability of grow- 

 ing trees on the remote plains of the West. 

 While their growth is dependent upon moisture, 

 and can not be established or maintained with- 

 out it, the trees are equalizers and husbanders of 

 moisture. When planted in masses, they shade 

 the ground and prevent evaporation from the 

 soil from being as copious and rapid as it would 

 be under the undiminished influence of the sun 

 and winds. There is hope, therefore, that we 

 may be able gradually to push the tree-line 

 much farther west than we have formerly sup- 

 posed was possible, and that, with the help of 

 irrigation in the most arid regions, we may re- 

 claim for human uses and comfort a large part 



3 



