The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-07-11

piled at right angles to the wind, that is from southwest to northwest, and this is the course taken by the rivers which flow through the country. It is the general belief that a great under ground flow of water passes through the sand-hills and drains the entire area.
 It has often been observed t that no matter how dry the season may have been or how long the hot winds may have been blowing, the sand only few inches beneath the surface is always moist. Trees with roots long enough to penetrate into the damp, rich soil find abundant nourishment, and thrive ac- cordingly. The pull pine has long tap root, which goes down straight as a plumb to the wet sand beneath. How ever scanty the rainfall this tree is se- cure from drouth by reason of it's store of moisture under ground.
 The bureau of forestry has planned to plant up the sand-hill reserve gradually with trees by making small plantations of four or five acres in the most favora- ble parts of the country, and gradually extending them until they ultimately merge together in continuous forest. Thus widespread mistakes will be- avoided. and the conduct of one planta- tion will affect the treatment of the rest.
 The most serious problems with which the bureau will have to deal in the sand-hill reserves are tn prevention and suppression of fires and the regulation of grazing. Poor as the country is for grazing purposes, it does support many herds of cattle whose owners have &C., quired by long occupancy a certain title to the public range. The country is, however, too severely grazed, the range is growing steadily poorer, and conflicts btween cattlemen over grazing privi- 1eges are more frequently than former ly. Clifford Pinchot, chief of the bureau of forestry, sees here an opportunity to benefit both the government and the cattlemen.
 He has planned to cooperate with cattle owners in such way as to grant rights for grazing privileges on certain parts of the reserves for a small rental, with the understanding that the cattle men shall assist the government in keeping out fires or suppressing them when they do occur. This should prove more satisfactory to the cattlemen than the present condition of affairs, for while he now pays no rental, he is con- stantly annoyed by interference from other rangers and he would willingly pay the small sum required to gain a grazing title which he could defend in the courts.
 As for aiding in the suppression of fires. that is to his interest also, for fires are disastrous to the cattlemen in the sand-hill country, as well as to the gov ernment with it's forest plantations. Whenever the grass is grazed too close or burned off. the wind begins to tear holes in the sand and change the topo- graphy of the country.
 The thin, wiry grass forms a sort of mat over the hills which holds the sand in place, but when the grass is grazed or burned off the wind gets in and eats a hole into the soil. This phenomenon is called in the sand-hill country blowout" The blowout" usually starts at the bottom of the hill, always on the windward side, and works up- ward. As the wind eats into the hole it draws out the sand and scatters it over the side of the hill.
 The forest planting in the sand-hill country is watched with friendly inter est by the people of Nebraska, who feel confident of it's success, now that the government is behind it. The work means much to them, for if it succeeds on the limited area included in the for est reserves, it should succeed anywhere in the fifteen million acres of unproduc- tive land in the entire sand-hill country, and thus increase tremendously the value of third of the states area Edward A. Braniff in the New York Times.