THE SAND-HILL NURSERIES. 23 



ciency, so that now the output is about 1,000,000 young trees a 

 year. The trees have been very largely used in planting the hills 

 immediately to the south of the nursery, but some have also been 

 used on the North Platte division of the Forest. The work at this 

 nursery is discussed elsewhere in this bulletin. 



Similarly, after the Halsey nursery had become established, a 

 small nursery was started at Garden City in 1907. Because it was 

 intended to grow hardwood seedlings this nursery was laid out on 

 the north side of the Arkansas River, where the soil is heavy and 

 rich, and well adapted to that purpose. However, conifers have 

 proved more desirable for the Kansas Forest, and various steps have 

 been taken to prepare a soil suited to that class of stock; finally, in 

 1911, a small branch nursery was established on the south side of the 

 Arkansas River, where the soil is sandy. The success of this nursery 

 has not yet been thoroughly established. 



In 1903 the area of the Halsey nursery was about one-half acre; 

 in 1911 the combined areas of the Halsey and Garden City nurseries 

 was more than 6 acres. 



THE SAND-HILL NURSERIES. 



The Halsey nursery was established in connection with the 

 Nebraska planting work for the primary object of raising coniferous 

 trees; that at Garden City was expected to produce mainly hardwood 

 or broad-leafed trees for the Kansas planting. Hence, while the 

 Garden City nursery has lately begun to produce conifers, it has not 

 developed far in that direction, and it is probable that, with a new 

 nursery in sandy soil, the nursery practice of the future will be much 

 the same as at Halsey. 



GAKDEN CITY NURSERY. 



The Garden City nursery was on the north side of the Arkansas 

 River, about 2 miles west of Garden City, and on leased land, since 

 there was nothing but very sandy land within the Forest on the south 

 side of the river. 



The situation is not more than 15 feet above the present river bed, 

 and the soil is described as " Laurel loam," 1 a rather heavy, dark- 

 brown loam, becoming lighter in color with depth. In some places 

 the proportion of sand is rather large. The subsoil is much more 

 sandy and gravelly than the topsoil. Pure sand is sometimes 

 encountered at a depth of from 30 to 36 inches, and gravel nearly 

 always at from 3 to 6 feet. The soil is made up of material deposited 

 by inundations of the river and by silt and clay washed in from 



1 For this and subseauent data on the soil of the Garden City nursery, see Soil Survey of the Garden 

 City Area, Bureau of Soils, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1905. 



