1840 



TREES 



TREES 



it eventually merges into the great body of forest trees 

 lying on the easterly side of the Mississippi valley. 

 The principal trees which have come upon the Plains by 

 this route are the common red cedar, papaw, half a 

 dozen willows, one cottonwood, basswood, two or three 

 elms, hackberry, mulberry, three ashes, wild apple, 

 four species of hawthorns, Juneberry, wild cherry, 

 choke cherry, wild plum, coffee bean, honey locust, red- 

 bud, sycamore, two species of buckthorns, buckeye, one 

 maple, box-elder, sumach, two species of walnuts, five 

 or six hickories, nine or ten oaks, iron wood, blue beech, 

 and one birch. But ten species of trees have come from 

 the Rocky Mountain forests, and these have made much 

 less impression upon the forests of the Plains than 

 those which came from the eastern forests. In this list 

 are the bull-pine, the western red cedar, four species of 

 cottonwoods, the buffalo berry, a maple, and two birches. 

 Although the present forest area of the Plains is not 

 relative!}' great, it is large enough to be seriously con 

 sidered in regard to its preservation. There 

 is danger that with the habits acquired 

 by our people in the thickly wooded 

 portions of the United States 

 of cutting down forest trees 

 wherever found, much of 

 this small forest area 

 will be destroyed. It 

 is much easier to 

 preserve an area 

 of forest land 

 than to create it 

 anew. First, 

 all forest fires 

 must be kept 

 down. Where 

 a mass of 

 woodland 

 adjoins the 

 open prairie, 

 fire - guards 

 should be 

 made so that 

 the fires will 

 not sweep into 

 the forest 

 growth. The 

 greatest de- 

 stroyer of the 

 forests of the 

 Plains in the past 

 has been tire, as it 

 swept over the 

 prairies into wood- 

 land. Second, it is ab- 

 solutely necessary to 

 keep out certain kinds of 

 stock. Swine, if herded in 

 large numbers, will inevitably 

 destroy the trees. They prevent the 

 growth of small trees, and eventu- 

 ally destroy those of larger growth. 



Cattle, in large numbers, are equally destructive. In fact, 

 where the attempt is made to preserve uninjured the trees 

 in a forest it is necessary to keep out stock of all kinds, 

 excepting possibly during limited portions of the year. 

 Third, it is necessary to cut out the trees for use with 

 very great care. A forest should be a permanent crop, 

 and the cuttings should be so made that the forest as a 

 whole is not injured. Trees should be cut here and 

 there in such a way that the young trees which are left 

 have an opportunity for growing into usable timber. 



Care should be taken to encourage the tendency to 

 spreading which is so strong in nearly all parts of the 

 Plains. With a little care every present living forest 

 area may be made to extend itself spontaneously, or 

 nearly so. The forest should be effectually inclosed by 

 a fence placed at some distance from its outer border, 

 leaving a belt of unoccupied land between the trees and 

 the fence. This will grow up with weeds, and mingled 

 with these will be the seedling trees springing from the 

 seeds blown or carried from the forest area. In this 

 way the border of the forest will be gradually extended. 

 This can be helped by plowing up these inclosed belts 



2557. 



of land, giving better opportunity for the starting of 

 seedling trees. With the weeds and little trees will 

 spring up low shrubs of various kinds. These need give 

 no trouble, for this is merely nature's way of taking 

 possession of the soil. Little if any cultivation need be 

 given to such a nursery belt, as the weeds which spring 

 up, while unsightly, will serve the useful purpose of 

 sheltering the little trees, and eventually the trees will 

 rise above, and choke them out. Grass, however, form- 

 ing a tough sod, is harmful to the little trees, far more 

 so than the ordinary weeds. 



There are many places where actual planting must be 

 resorted to. In looking about for a site for the new for- 

 est plantation, we must remember that the best condi- 

 tions for tree growth are usually to be found near the 

 natural forests. Where there are natural forests the 

 planting should be around their borders, so as to extend 

 them in much the same way as indicated in the preced- 

 ing paragraph in regard to natural spreading. Where 

 there are no natural forests at all it is nec- 

 essary to select the more favorable 

 places for planting. Since the nat- 

 ural forests on the Plains oc- 

 cupy the depressions rather 

 than the hill-tops or the 

 slopes, this should give 

 us a hint as to what 

 we must do. Wher- 

 ever the land slopes 

 into a depression 

 one may find 

 favorable condi- 

 tions for grow- 

 ing trees. 

 These depres- 

 sions, gener- 

 ally called 

 "draws, "may 

 be filled with 

 trees, and 

 when once a 

 growth of a 

 few acres is 

 secured it will 

 not be difficult 

 to extend the 

 forest far up 

 the hillside 

 slopes. On the 

 western portions 

 of the Plains simi- 

 lar positions should 

 be taken under the 

 irrigation ditches. In 

 the selection of trees 

 for the formation of for- 

 est areas we should also take 

 a hint from nature. The rule, 

 which is a very excellent one for 

 the plainsman to follow, is to plant 

 on his farm the kinds which he 

 finds in the nearest forest, and to give his planted trees 

 as nearly as possible the same conditions as those un- 

 der which they grew in the native forest. On the east 

 ern third of the Plains, the walnut, white oak, shell 

 bark hickory, white elm, red elm, hackberry, white ash. 

 wild cherry, catalpa and honey locust are recommended 

 for planting. On the extreme eastern portions border 

 ing the Missouri river, many more kinds can be planted, 

 but as we pass westward toward the borders of the 

 Sand Hill region the list grows smaller. On the cen- 

 tral Plains the list is reduced, and also somewhat 

 changed in species. The two elms may be planted, as 

 also the hackberry, the green ash in place of the white 

 ash, wild cherry, honey locust, and in many places the 

 bull-pine. On the western Plains, especially that por- 

 tion lying west of the main body of the Sand Hills, 

 and having an elevation above the sea of from 3,000 to 

 4,000 feet, the list is still smaller. The white elm is still 

 included, also the hackberry, the bull-pine, and in many 

 places the red cedar. 



The trees mentioned are of the more durable and 

 profitable kinds. But on all parts of the Plains people 



Avenue of live oaks in Audubon 

 Park. New Orleans. 



