Geographic Notes 



81 



in the same manner that the lower limit 

 •of tree growth on the mountains of 

 arid region is regulated. 



" When the humidity is sufficient for 

 the growth of trees, as for example on 

 the mountains of New England, the 

 dry timber-line disappears. An arid 

 region may be bordered at a lower ele- 

 vation by a region with sufficient hu- 

 midity to permit trees to grow, and 

 may then be bordered both above and 

 below by the dry timber-line, as is the 

 ■case in southern Idaho. Where an 

 arid region reaches sea-level, as in Ari- 

 zona, southern California, and the west 

 coast of Mexico, etc , there is no forest 

 below the arid belt, and in certain 

 localities the dry timber-line meets the 

 •cold timber-line, and the mountains are 

 bare of trees from sea-level to their 

 summits. 



' ' There is also a third general cause 

 which draws a limit to timber growth, 

 namely, excessive humidity, as for ex- 

 ample on the borders of swamps, the 

 margins of lakes, etc., which may per- 

 haps be termed the 'wet timber line. " 



RECLAMATION OF THE HIGH PLAINS 



THE efforts of the hydrographic 

 branch of the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey are being directed to the 

 discovery of sufficient water to lead to 

 the reclamation and habitation of that 

 area of the Great Plains lying west of 

 the prairies and east of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, commonly known as the High 

 Plains. The section is admirably suited 

 to agriculture and grazing except for its 

 inadequate water supply, which is so 

 uncertain that great areas of fertile land 

 lie quite uninhabited. 



This is especially true of the regions 

 lying between the river valleys which 

 cross it at wide intervals. These broad 

 intervalley plateaus are practically wa- 

 terless, but it has been discovered that 

 water may be had from underground 

 sources by wells and windmills, and it 



has been demonstrated that, while the 

 region may not be largely reclaimable 

 by irrigation, it ma}- be successfully 

 used for grazing by creating stock- 

 watering points at comparatively close 

 intervals. It will, however, be difficult, 

 if not impossible, for the grazers to 

 raise anything besides fodder cane of 

 the drought-resisting varieties, such as 

 Kaffir corn. Vegetables and other pro- 

 ducts will, for the most part, probably 

 have to be grown elsewhere. 



The river valleys, on the other hand, 

 seem destined to be extensively culti- 

 vated by irrigation, the water for which 

 will be pumped from the gravels of the 

 river beds, where an underflow has been 

 known to continue in the summer season 

 after the rivers themselves have ceased 

 to run. These areas will furnish garden 

 produce for the ranches on the plateau, 

 and in this manner make the region as a 

 whole habitable. The details of this 

 investigation, with exhaustive studies of 

 the nature of the underground waters of 

 the High Plains, appear in the Twenty- 

 first and Twenty-second Annual Reports 

 of the United States Geological Survey, 

 the latter of which is now in press and 

 will soon be issued. 



Commander Robert E. Peary, at a recent 

 meeting of the Geographical Society 

 of Philadelphia, declared that he was 

 willing to lead another expedition in 

 search of the North Pole if some wealthy 

 Arctic enthusiast was ready to put up 

 $150,000 to finance the expedition. Mr 

 Peary believes that by making Cape 

 Hekla the base, as outlined in the last 

 number of this Magazine, the Pole could 

 be reached, but it would take two years 

 to do it. 



The U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

 Steamer Blake, commanded by Capt. 

 R. L. Faris, arrived at San Juan, Porto 

 Rico, January 27, and reports a success- 

 ful series of daily magnetic observations 

 aboard ship on the passage between the 



