Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-01-12
LETTERS FROM BEE READERS
Sand Hills Of Nebraska Should Be Made
Pine ForsstL
WORTHLESS LAND SHOULD Be PRODUCTIVE
Q. 3. Harrison Points . Way That
win Lead 20 PROFIT ana
that May he Easily
Pursued.

bIdle ana HnOulQ DC TnuCn greater ana
richer. Nearly one-fourth of our area is
a desolation, almost worthless sand hills,
requiring a large tract to support a single
animal, and yet In this region OF desola-
ton are the possibilities Of enormous
wealth. which the state should not be slow
in developing.
A sand drift is an invitation to a pine
tree. The grand pine forests OF the north
are largely on sandy lands. In the days
OF Napoleon there was a Sahara of drift
ing sands in the heart of France 1t was
gradually working inland, overwhelming
farms and even villages sometimes. Church
spires rising out OF the drifts seemed TO
be the gravestones of buried hamlets. All
that region was planted TO pines and the
government now receives enormous reve-
nues from It, An immense amount of lum-
Der and resin and turpentine in large guam
titles are shipped, even to America, to
take the place OF products which should
have been produced from our slaughtered
forests.
Nebraska is away behind in progress.
It is a parkless state, not an acre OF park
being owned by the great, rich state. No
state has finer facilities for park work
than our own. township of cheap land
could be procured; doubtless the govern
ment would make donation for the pur-
pose: at any rate the expense would not
be great. II not township a single Sec
ton in a place would answer. The locs-
ton should be secured near some lake or
stream. and IL we take it up in time per-
haps the government would aid generously.
Doubtless someone will rise up and cry:
"A pull, pull Graft, graftP' Pure nom
sense. AS a rich state we are not much
in debt. Our resources are immense. We
ought to get beyond the nickel stage and
do something worthy of the name. The
United States government has set the pace
in it's plantation on the Dismal river. II
elbows us how easily the sand hills can be
reclaimed. The planting costs from 50 to
IS per acre. No blowing, save the the first
burrows for planting; no cultivation and
no irrigation; simply planting the trees
and letting them pump gold out Of the
ground.
The first planting, some fifteen years
ago, in Holt county is a demonstration
In fifteen years, without any care what
ever, the trees were twenty-one feet tall
and were reproducing themselves from
seed. II valued for the wood alone, II
was worth $40 per acre at that early stage.
in twenty-five to thirty years those once
barren lands can be made worth 500 per
acre at least in real and prospective value.
We should extend our area and our most
worthless land will soon rank among our
best. The location is ideal. There Is no
more healthy country on the earth; the
water is pure and the drainage perfect.
Let the state plant on a large scale and
there will be ideal summer resorts. The
property will be growing in value and in
thirty to fifty years the state will not
a.. all hnG
regions but will have a splendid income.
We have advantages now that we could
not have had twenty-five years ago. We
are past experimental stages and are down
to solid facts. The experiment station of
York. after years of careful testing, has
found out how to raise the bull or pom
derosa pine as easily as you can raise
pease. Nurserymen have been on the
| wrong track. They thought they must
! raise them under screen. We have demon
! strated that this was all wrong that as
| they naturally. grow in the open, they
should be raised without a covering. Any
man, woman or child can grow them as
| easily as they can grow onions with no
money out save the first cost of the seeds.
| Anyone wishing to know more of the proc
ess can find out the whole thing by send
| ing to us at York.
Again, when the first planting OF Jack
pines was made in Holt county H. b.
Ayers of Aitkin, Mimi. furnished forest
| grown trees. He knew how to handle
them and so per cent lived Having faith
| In the future he has now millions of jack
pine seedlings which he is furnishing al
the lowest possible price, enough for an
acre for about IS. These are nursery
| grown, much better than the wild. So al
present we have data and facilities such
as we never had before. These two pines
the bull and the jack, are the ones to be
depended upon for lforesting the sands.
The Jack pine called pinus panksii, also
pinus divaricata, varies much in different
localities In the east 1t is a scrubby
dwarfsh tree. In northern Minnesota Il
| grows very rapidly. In the station here
at York, where we have eighteen varieties
of conifers, II beats everything to 1
It not only grows on sandy but on stiff
clay land. We have specimens growing
in clay bank and without cultivation
which have made fve feet in two years
When once established in the forest the!
will make eighteen to twenty-four inches
yearly. They manufacture timber on
large scale.
The other day / had occasion to bu!
some boards and 1 found they were jus
twice as high in price as they were tel
years ago. What are we coming to at thi
rate? Is II not time that something wa
done? Let the state and individuals plan
now and In thirty years what an inoom
they will have by thinning out. taking tn
largest and giving the others a chance I
grow.
We don't plan for anything that will las
much longer than a coTnstalk. 1t is hig
time we looked out a little for the future
York county alone spends $4,000 a yea
for fence posts, when it might as we
raise its own. Think OF the million
drained out Of the state for posts alone
Figure the millions spent for coal, whe
we might raise our own fuel. Prairie 30
Is Just hungry for trees. Thirty-five year
ago there was not tree or bush in Yorl
! now we have trees that would cut owe
. 500 feet of lumber each.
Moral-Let the state and everybody els
( plant trees, especially the bull and JAG
. pines c. s. HARRISON,
. President Nebraska Park and Forestr
Association.
HatIroada and Grain HRtea.