THE TIMBER RESOURCES OF NEBRASKA. 



By WILLIAM L. HALL, 

 Superintendent of Tree Planting, Bureau of Forestry. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In no other State is the ratio of planted to natural timber so close as 

 regards area and usefulness as in Nebraska. The comparatively small 

 area of natural timber and the large area of planted timber bring the 

 two into the unusually close ratio of 1 acre of planted to 8 acres of 

 natural forest. Nearly all the latter is composed of young growth, 

 and its chief interest lies in its rapid extension in area and improve- 

 ment in quality. What the planted timber lacks in area it makes up 

 by more even distribution throughout the State and more convenient 

 location for a large number of uses. 



THE NATURAL TIMBER PRIOR TO SETTLEMENT OF STATE. 



The original wooded area of Nebraska is estimated at 2,300 square 

 miles, or only 3 per cent of the State's area. One-half of this timber 

 covered the bluffs of the Missouri River or skirted the streams flow- 

 ing into it, and one -sixth bordered the tributaries of the Blue River; 

 the remaining portion was found in the canyons and on the bluffs in 

 the western part of the State. The combination of adverse natural 

 conditions, together with fire, held the forest within these limits. 



The number of species composing this original growth was limited. 

 Some 56 species were found in the extreme eastern edge of the State, 

 along the Missouri River, but going westward one after another of 

 these disappeared until, in the central part of the State, there were 

 but 13 or 14 species. In the western part the number increased again 

 to 22 or 23. 



In quality the original timber of Nebraska was not first class. (See 

 PI. IX.) The extreme eastern part of the State contributed to the 

 sawmill some hardwoods, such as oak, walnut, and elm; the valleys of 

 the central part a little Cotton wood, and Pine Ridge, near the north- 

 west corner of the State, a considerable portion of Yellow Pine. 

 Excepting the pine, only the timber produced in moist and otherwise 

 favorable places was of good form for lumber. Elsewhere the trees 

 grew too far apart to have good form. 



907 



