TREE PLANTING IN THE PLAINS. 23 



are necessary, but the plant material must be imported and selected with a view to a rigorous 

 climate, characterized by extreme ranges of temperarure. A range of 40° below zero to 120° F. 

 above must be endured by the trees, their moisture requirements must be of the smallest, and they 

 must be capable of responding to the enormous demands of evaporation. At first, whatever trees 

 will grow successfully from the stait under such untoward conditions would have to be chosen, no 

 matter what their usefulness otherwise might be. 



The first settlers have ascertained by trials some of the species that will succeed under such 

 conditions, but unfortunately most of these are of but small economic value and some of them are 

 only short lived under the conditions in which they have to grow. The methods of planting were 

 naturally suggested by the experience of orchardists and nurserymen, since forest planting had 

 never been practiced in this country; but unquestionably many failures can be avoided by applica- 

 tion of forestry principles in these plantings. Whether more useful kinds can be found that may 

 be grown to advantage, and whether methods of planting can be devised by which a greater effi- 

 ciency of the plantation may be gained, are problems which the Division has taken up within the 

 last few years. Such problems can, of course, only be solved by actual field work, experiment, 

 or trial, and hence the cooperation of the State agricultural experiment stations was secured to 

 carry on such experiments. The station authorities have placed some land at the disposal of the 

 Department, and the professors of horticulture or some other officer of the station superintends, 

 free of charge, the labor of planting, cultivating, etc., while the Division of Forestry furnishes the 

 plans, plant material, and all expenses. 



So tar, the stations of Montana, Utah, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South 

 Dakota, and Minnesota are engaged in this cooperative work. In addition, there are two planting 

 stations located in the forested regions, namely, one in Minnesota and one in Pennsylvania, to 

 experiment on practical methods of reforesting cut-over waste brush lands. 



Some few years ago the writer came to the conclusion that the conifers, especially the pines, 

 would furnish more useful and otherwise serviceable plant material for the arid regions. Not only 

 are they of greater economic value than most of the deciduous trees that have been planted, but, 

 requiring less moisture for their existence, they would, if once established, persist more readily 

 through droughty seasons and be longer lived ; besides, their persistent foliage would give more 

 shelter all the year around. 



A small trial plantation on the sand hills of Nebraska, described in the annual reports of the 

 Division for 1890 and 1S91, lent countenance to this theory. To be sure, the difficulty of estab- 

 lishing the young plants in the first place is infinitely greater than would be experienced with 

 most deciduous trees. A large amount of attention was, therefore, devoted to finding practicable 

 methods of growing the seedlings cheaply for extensive use and of protecting them for the first 

 few years in the plantations; for the transplanting of conifers is attended with considerable diffi- 

 culties, especially in a dry climate, and they require protection from the sun and winds during the 

 first few years. They must, therefore, be planted in mixture with "nurse" trees which furnish not 

 too much and yet enough shade. It can not be said that the success in using these species has so 

 far been very encouraging; nevertheless, the failures maybe charged rather to our lack of knowl- 

 edge and to causes which can be overcome than to any inherent incapacity of the species. The 

 experimentations should, therefore, be persistently continued. 



Mixed planting and close planting are undoutbedly the proper methods of quickly establishing 

 forest conditions, when without further attention the plantation will take care of itself. But it is 

 essential to know what species should be planted together and how closely in order to secure the 

 best results, and this knowledge can only come from experience and actual trial, since the behavior 

 of trees in regions in which they are not indigenous can not be predicted by anyone. 



The results of these trial plantings have been discussed at great length, in Bulletin 18 of the 

 Division, by Mr. Charles A. KefTer, who has been in charge of this particular work. Other minor 

 investigations and experiments calculated to increase our silvicultural knowledge for the benefit 

 of the forest producer were also carried on, and the introduction of special strains of basket osiers, 

 of tan bark wattle trees, of cork oak, and Eucalyptus seed, as well as the distribution of seeds and 

 seedlings to would-be planters — to be sure only in small amounts as justified by the small appro- 

 priation — belong to this work of silvicultural advancement. 



