Pool: THE VEGETATION OF THE SANDHILLS OF NEBRASKA 191 



culture, made a study of the flora (58) of that portion of the re- 

 gion lying in Thomas and Hooker counties between the Middle 

 Loup and Dismal rivers, and the eastern portion of Grant County. 

 We have in this paper the most extensive collection of floristic 

 notes from the sandhills that had been gathered up to that time. 

 Rydberg described blow-outs and indicated in a general manner the 

 vegetative cycle that is so characteristic of these habitats. Bessey 

 (17) discussed the question of the migration of the trees and larger 

 shrubs of Nebraska (16), some of which have entered the sandhills 

 from the east and others from the west. Pound and Clements first 

 recognized, in the Phytogeography of Nebraska (57), the natural 

 vegetation regions of the state. The sandhills were here included 

 for the most part within the "Loup District" of "Region III." The 

 vegetation of the sandhills was treated under (1) the bunch-grass 

 "formation" with two subdivisions, the blue-stem "type" and the 

 beard-grass "type," (2) the blow-out "formation," and (3) the 

 sand-draw "formation." The general nature and composition of 

 these "formations" and "types" were given at considerable length. 

 On the whole this general survey represents the most careful at- 

 tempt at an ecological analysis of the vegetation of the state that 

 has been compiled and should serve as a valuable guide and working 

 basis for detailed work upon the natural plant cover of any portion 

 of the state. The Phytogeography has been of constant service to 

 me during the progress of this investigation and I have drawn from 

 it to a considerable degree in certain portions of this study. The 

 same authors later (56) added certain notes in regard to the position 

 of the sandhills within the "prairie province" and commented upon 

 the endemic nature of the flora of the region. In this paper the con- 

 trast between turf builders and bunch-grasses was emphasized. 



Soon after 1900 the agitation for reforestation began to bear 

 fruit and in 1903, after an examination of the region by government 

 officials, the national government began the planting of coniferous 

 stock upon the sandhills. At the same time a nursery for the pro- 

 duction of stock suitable for planting was established in the valley 

 of the Middle Loup River two miles west of Halsey in Thomas 

 County. Various extensive forestation experiments have been in- 

 augurated by the Forest Service at this place in the attempt to dis- 

 cover if it is possible to cover the sandhill uplands with trees. The 

 government has shown conclusively that certain coniferous species 

 may be grown upon the hills, but it can not be said that it has been 



