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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
ae 
MISCELLANEOUS CIRCULAR NO. 16 
WASHINGTON, D. C. AUGUST, 1925 
TREE DISTRIBUTION UNDER THE KINKAID ACT 
OF 1911 
PREPARED BY THE FOREST SERVICE 
Annually since 1911 the agricultural appropriation act has con- 
tained a provision for the free distribution of young trees from 
the Bessey Nursery, Nebraska National Fcrest, Halsey, Nebr., as 
follows: 
That from the nurseries on the Nebraska National Forest the Secretary of 
Agriculture, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, may furnish 
young trees free, so far as they may be spared, to residents of the territory 
covered by “An act increasing the area of homesteads in a portion of Nebraska,” 
approved April 28, 1904. 
The act referred to is commonly known as the Kinkaid Act, and 
the portion of Nebraska included is shown on the map (fig. 1). 
Under the foregoing provision, trees have been distributed as 
follows: 
Number | Number of Number | Number of 
Year of appli- | trees dis- Year of appli- | trees dis- 
cants tributed cants tributed 
OTD Ree a an 494 44, 460 O20 Seer 2 698 119, 180 
IG} GY Ss Saeed ae 540 189, 000 1D Tp ce Ae 680 104, 600 
O14 Sees BS 712 248, 500 1922 Seale Cee 829 170, 400 
1 5 eens ee ed 746 112,110 NG D3 eaz era ti On 1,041 206, 100 
OG seme Sees Ae + 770 131, 200 L924 ee Se 970 195, 050 
Oe Ses 704 127, 550 | 
ICN hee a a ae 586 122, 900 ‘Rovala= == 9,298 | 1,877,445 
LD) Fakes ee ie 528 106, 395 
The reports sent in by those who have received the trees indicate 
that they obtain as high as 75 per cent survival in favorable seasons 
and as low as almost total failure in seasons of drought. An aver- 
age of about 50 per cent of the trees planted live. Some planters 
who take unusually good care of their trees obtain almost perfect 
stands. There are scattered groves of trees all through western 
Nebraska, many of which were planted under the timber culture 
act of March 13, 1874, locally called the “tree claim” law.‘ Where 
1 This law as amended by the act of June 14, 1878, authorized the entry of a quarter 
section or less of treeless land for the purpose of timber culture. The law required that 
the entryman should plant, protect, and keep in a healthy growing condition for 8 
years 10 acres of timber on a quarter section, 5 acres on an 80, or 214 acres on a 
40-acre tract. No residence on the land was required. 
48743—25 
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