The courier., 1902-10-25
TIL E COURIER

without lawful authority box. bore
bark, girdle. saw down. injure. or 9th
erwise destroy. to the amount Of thirty
five dollars or upwards. any shade or
other trees standing or growing in an
orchard. or nursery. or grove,
the property of another. every such
person shall be imprisoned In
the penitentiary at hard labor
for not more than ten nor less
than one year. and shall moreover be
liable to the party injured for double
the amount OF damage done" So va
rious laws have been passed from time
to time. but they were not sufficient.
The National Bureau Of Forestry took
up the matter. sent out agents over the
country to report conditions. and the
result to our state was that two tracts
Of land were set aside last spring for
forest purposes by President Roosevelt.
One of these Is in Thomas county. and
extends from the Dismal river on the
south, to the Loup river on the north.
and contains about 5000 acres, and is
known as the Dismal river forest re-
serve. The other is In Cherry county,
and extends from the NiObrara river
on the north to the Snake river on the
south. 1t contains about 126.0O0 acres.
and bears the name of the Niobrara
river forest reserve. making In all
2l2.000 acres of land In these two re-
seves.
am indebted to Professor Bessey OF
the state university for much of this
information. He has very recently
visited this country. and further speaks
of some native growing timber, but
for the most part the country Is a sur
face Of sandhiils. In fact the forestry
bureau sele .ted as far as possible the
sand hills for these experiments.
The sand hills of Holt county were
experimental upon a few years ago,
and the result was gratifying. The
pine trees have thrived In this soil.
and we are finding that the sand hills
are full Of surprises. and as see these
barren hills rescued from the stigma
they have borne SO long. 1 think of
that little country across the seas and
hope we possess some of the will and
perseverance Of the people who took
their homes from the very ocean.
We have a new department of fores-
try in our state university and asked
one of the professors the other day to
tell me something Of this department,
its outlook, etc. He says, 1T is going
to be one of the strongest departments
in the United States" I said. PRO
fessor, what do you do?" He said,
II keep the bugs OFF the trees" And
so we all have our part in this work.
1t may be ours, as women, to sit in
the little schoolroom with the
children on Arbor day. to lis
ten to the exercises, take part
in the planting of the trees,
and pay a tribute to the father Of
Arbor day, who spent so many years
of his useful life within our borders,
and who must be accorded first place
in the ranks of Nebraska citizenship.
And when the news flashed over the
wires that j. Sterling Morton had been
stricken there was mourning not only
in the state of Nebraska, of which he
seems a part. but all over the nation.
And when his friends were permitted
to take leave of him it was in his old
home, under the sunshine of a perfect
day. The homestead and surroundings
were impressively beautiful: between
great forest trees apple and peach
blossoms drifted through the afr. The
beds Of spring flowers were profusely
beautiful; the fields were alive with
greenness: the town below, silent in
sympathy, the river, yellow as gold in