166 J.T. Allan on the Forest-trees of Nebraska. 
terminate with a few ‘Scrub Oaks,” 12 to 20 feet high, standing 
eyond the fringe of Corylus Americana. Among the latter in 
the spring we discover the bright blossoms of the Red bud (Cer- 
cis Canadensis) and in autumn the bright seed-pods of the Hu- 
on 
1Us, 
Going west from the Missouri we find no trees except on the 
small streams on which, at intervals of ten miles or more are 
groves of White oak, Bur oak, Carya glabra and sometimes 
White elm; these groves will average in extent from 100 to 500 
acres, and the above mentioned, with Juglans nigra, make up 
their prominent trees. 
The valley of the Platte, to which so much attention is now 
directed as the great central route, demands a notice. At the 
mouth we find a heavy body of timber, chiefly Cottonwood, 
with a small proportion of Acer rubrum and Morus rubra. As 
we proceed up 20 miles the dull green of Juniperus Virginiana 
ins to be seen, which farther up we see covering some of the 
small islands, with trees often 18 inches and more in diameter. 
is has furnished for a hundred miles or more telegraph poles 
of a superior quality. 
_ Upon the tributaries of the Platte, particularly on the north 
side Quercus macrocarpa is the most abundant of large trees. 
After leaving Fort Kearney, the immigrant finds but a fringe 
of cottonwoods skirting the stream, and on the road to the new 
gold mines for 200 miles not a tree for shade or wood: the 
well known “ Buffalo chips” must supply the latter. Upon the 
North Platte the emigrant to California or to the Mormon “Zion” 
is always in sight of the trees bordering on the stream, though 
often too far off to obtain fuel. 400 miles beyond Ft. Kearney is 
found in several places large groves of Negundo aceroides on the 
banks of the creeks. 
After passing Fort Laramie the pleasant sight of green pines, 
_ though at a distance, relieves the eye and tells of the cool waters 
in the south pass, so refreshing in the heat of summer. 
The very rapid growth of trees in this rich soil is a noticeable 
feature. The hazel which fringes the timber on the prairie side 
is interspersed with abundance of saplings Carya alba and glabra 
and Alnus fulva, which shoot up with wonderful rapidity, while 
upon the sand bars of the river, as soon as the waters subside im 
July, there spring myriads of young cottonwoods and willows. 
Of the latter I have neglected to speak though they cover 20 
inconsiderable portion of the valleys of the Missouri and Platte. 
verywhere fringing the streams, and where there is a tract | 
annually overflowed by the spring rise there we find a dense 
th often 20 to 30 feet high eg from one to three inches in 
iameter growing so thickly that it is impossible without great 
difficulty to force a passage through them. 
