16 FORESTATION, SAND HILLS NEBRASKA AND KANSAS. 



typical of sandy hilltops; the sand cherry (Prunus ~besseyi\ found in 

 almost any site, but especially in the loose sand- around blow-outs; 

 and the shoe-string bush (Amorpha canescens). Wolf berry (Sym- 

 phoricarpos occidentalis) , chokecherry, and wild plum frequently 

 form thickets on the slopes of pockets facing the southeast, where 

 they are favored by the moisture from snowdrifts. The first named 

 seldom becomes more than 2J feet high, the other two frequently 

 15 feet. 



From the standpoint of forestry one of the most important of the 

 woody plants is the low bearberry or kinnikinnik (Arctostaphylos 

 uva-ursi). While this grows in only a few limited localities, on moist 

 north slopes, it is thought to be indicative of conditions favorable 

 for western yellow pine, since it is an almost invariable associate of 

 that tree in the Rocky Mountains. 



Typical of the stream valleys in both Kansas and Nebraska are the 

 false indigo (Amorpha fruticosa], the buffalo berry, peach-leafed 

 willow, sand-bar willow, wolfberry, plum, and chokecherry. The 

 diamond willow, one of the Nebraska sand hills' most valuable small 

 trees, is not found in Kansas. On the whole, shrubby growth is 

 much more typical of the Nebraska than the Kansas sand hills, 

 which usually have a heavy grass sod that does not permit the growth 

 of shrubs. 



TREES. 



In only a few localities in the Nebraska sand hills do actual trees 

 grow; in the Kansas region they are still more rare. Of the hard- 

 woods, green ash, hackberry, cottonwood, and aspen are the only ones 

 which attain to tree size in the sand hills proper. While these species 

 (except aspen) grow, for the most part, along the main watercourses, 

 there are clumps of them in the sand hills proper. All of the trees so 

 far found are less than 25 years old and have sprung from sprouts after 

 the last general prairie fire, so that it is impossible to say what size 

 the trees may attain at maturity. The largest are now no more than 

 25 feet high and 8 inches in diameter. Probably in the poor soil 

 they will never attain large size. 



Western yellow pine, on the contrary, grows as large in the vicinity 

 of the sand hills as elsewhere in its range. Practically, there is no 

 yellow pine in the sand hills proper, it being confined to the Arikaree 

 formation on the west, north, and south sides of the sand hills and 

 to the loess soil of one or two canyons on the east. Under favorable 

 moisture conditions in the Arikaree formation of the Pine Ridge 

 yellow pine not infrequently reaches a height of 100 feet. There are 

 also many fine specimens in this formation along the Niobrara and 

 Snake Rivers and in the counties west of the sand hills. In consider- 

 ing the possibility of growing yellow pine in the sand hills the fact 



