WHERE AND WHAT TO PLANT 61 



which should include an investigation of the species of 

 trees that formerly occupied the ground, he still have 

 doubts, it would be best to call in an educated forester, 

 just as he would any other professional man whose services, 

 on account of his own lack of knowledge, he might find 

 himself in need of ; for a mistake in this cannot be cor- 

 rected. But to avoid mistakes and achieve success the future 

 tree-grower should possess a general knowledge of the life- 

 history of trees, what they demand, how they must be 

 grown to produce valuable lumber, and the object for 

 which any one or more species should be planted. To a 

 reasonable degree we should all become practical foresters. 

 We must not, however, neglect to speak of that other 

 portion of our national domain known as the treeless re- 

 gion. There we encounter a vastly different condition. In 

 a large portion of this now treeless area no trees can be 

 grown except by irrigation. This is owing to absence of 

 rainfall, and all such cases must be considered independently 

 and according to surrounding conditions. Then there are 

 sections of the country, now treeless, where trees have been, 

 and, no doubt, others where they may be, profitably planted 

 and prove a reasonable success. This is especially true of 

 what is generally known as the central treeless region, em- 

 bracing part of the states of Illinois, Iowa, North Dakota, 

 South Dakota,. Nebraska, and Kansas, the prairie district of 

 Minnesota, and portions of Oklahoma and Texas lying west 

 of the hardwood belt. In this region planting is generally suc- 

 cessful, but experience and that can be the only guide 



shows that there are but few species suited to any loca- 

 tion, and experience must be the guide in selecting these. 

 Throughout that region trees have, thus far, been planted 

 for shelter, general farm purposes, as posts, poles, etc., 



and fuel, because these are pressing necessities, and rap- 

 idly growing species have been chosen, few of which are of 

 much importance for lumber. The list is mainly composed 

 of Silver Maple, Cottonwood, Black Walnut, Box Elder, 

 Willows, Ash, largely Green Ash, Elms, and Hardy 



