36 FOREST BELTS OF WESTERN KANSAS AND NEBRASKA. 
Leaf forms of all three species are wonderfully variable in this 
region, and almost every gradation from the willowleaf to the del- 
toid can be found. The narrowleaf cottonwood is a rather small tree, 
but the lanceleaf is of the usual size. A tree of the latter species in 
Carter Canyon, in Scotts Bluff County, has a diameter of 4 feet and 
a height of 75 feet. 
The wood is light and soft and perishable in the ground, but it 
furnishes, nevertheless, most of the common lumber of the region. 
In moist situations the tree grows so rapidly that no others can com- 
pete with it as a wood producer. 
BIRCH. 
The western birch (Betula occidentalis) 1s a small tree, resembling 
the cherry tree, which occasionally attaims a diameter of 6 inches 
and a height of 30 feet. It is found in Sioux County, and is very 
abundant in several places in Scotts Bluff County. The wood is 
valuable for fuel, making a clear, hot fire. 
The paper birch (Betula papyrifera) is reported by Doctor Bessey 
as occurring in Cherry County, on the north sides of gh bluffs 
bordering the Niobrara River. 
MORNBEAM. 
The hornbeam. or ironwood (Ostrya virginiana), is reported to 
occur in Rock, Brown, Cherry, and Sioux counties, Nebr., but it 1s 
evidently quite rare, since it was not noted in observations extending 
from Valentine, in Cherry County, to the Wyoming line. 
BUR OAK. 
The range of the bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) is much the same 
as that of the black walnut and the slippery elm, though it extends a 
little farther west than the former. The tree is very common east of 
the region here described, and is fairly abundant in Smith, Osborne, 
and Russell counties, Kans.,and in Lincoln and Cherry counties, Nebr. 
It is quite plentiful within its range, attains a fair size, and in many 
places is spreading rapidly. (See Pl. VI.) The bur oak is hardy, and 
probably lives to a greater age than any other broadleaf tree men- 
tioned in this report. The wood is very heavy, lard, strong, and 
tough, and is valuable for wagon and implement repairs. The 
heartwood is durable and makes good posts. As fuel it is better than 
any other wood of the region. 
WHITE ELM. 
The white elm (U/mus americana) is one of the leading species in 
both States, but is lacking in southwestern Nebraska, and does not 
