The New York herald., 1922-05-14
TO FILL TREELESS
FOREST WITH TREES
Big Reforestation Campaign
on Among Sandhills of West
ern Nebraska.

| Special Dispatch to THE NEW YORK HERALD
| LINCOLN. Neb., May 13. - Out in
western Nebraska, along the Dismal
River. one of the most stupendous pub
! lie works ever undertaken in this coun-
| try is getting under way. 1t is the re-
| forestation of the sand hills, and the
completed work calls for the planting of
3 900 000,0 900 pine trees in section of
the country where no trees have been
known to grow. In the next six weeks
more than a million and a half Western
yellow pine and jack pine sprouts will
be planted in the reservation, which is
known as the Nebraska National Forest.
For thirty-five years efforts to grow
trees have been made on these hills by
the owners of the cattle ranches which
dot that section, and for twenty years
scientific campaign to make that coun-
| try into n great national forest has been
made, but not until this year has the
| idea gotten down to a real working
basis At the present time fifty men
and the necessary horses and tractors
are doing nothing but planting young
trees. For the next six weeks they will
devote full time to it. Then the work
must wait until next year.
One thousand acres this year Will be
planted with 100000 young trees. The
Nebraska National Forest consists of
205, 900 acres. which were Withdrawn
| from the public domain in 1902. Ne
braslans laughingly remark the tract
was called forest" because in all the
| 2O5 900 acres there was not single tree
of any description.
Trees Would Not Grow.
The sandhills of western Nebraska
are Just what their name implies. They
are partially covered with sort OF
! grass. especially in the small valleys
| The country cannot be farmed. So the
very toughest portion was segregated
and made into forest"
But trees would not grow when
planted. Thousands and thousands of
! young pine spruce and other similar
trees were brought from Wisconsin and
| Minnesota and were planted on the hills.
They PROMPTLY died Different species
were obtained from the mountains. but
! they also died Trees were brought from
still other sections of the country and
" ere planted but they all went the same
way. Then those in charge of the prof.
/ ect determined to grow tree that
would thrive under sandhill conditions
So they established the "Bessey' nur-
\ sery-named after DR.. Charles h. Bes-
/ sey the famous botanist
! For eighteen years the experts nave
worked at producing a tree which would
measure up to their necessities. and
they have developed a hardy class OF
nursery stock which they have proved
! will grow and thrive In the very sandi-
est portion of the sandhills.
Trees from the Bessey nursery now
are being transplanted out onto the hiiis
/ and are making good" The nursery
this year will provide only about 1900
| 600 young trees. Next year the nur-
| sery will provide several times as many.
| And this number will increase EACH year
until the entire 205, 900 acres have been
planted with hardy pines.
Preparing the Soil.
To eliminate the competition for mois-
ture by the native vegetation deep
furrow is plowed. and in the bottor
Of this -furrow a specially designed plow
makes a suitable trench, in which the
young trees are set, and the sand is
tamped down tightly about the tree
roots. The surface of the sand be-
comes very dry, but the moisture is re-
tained deep down where the roots of the
young trees are tamped down. The
number Of trees which died is very
small compared with the total number
planted out
The early paintings of the developed
stock have flourished, many OF the
trees now being thirty feet or more III
height The original heavy stand OF
( grass on the ground has given way to
a thick floor Of decaying pine needles,
which. II is expected. will materially
change and improve the character or
the soil. AS high as so per cent. OF the
trees planted in some years have lived.
The average is between 60 per cent.
and 40 per cent
The ranchers in the sand hills have
taken up the idea of reforestation. and
there is scarcely a cattle ranch within
fifty miles OF the national forest that has
not planted a windbrake or wood lot.
Each year since 1912, wheen seedlings
became available. the Government has
given free to the ranchers as many OF
the acclimated trees as they would agree
TO plant and care for. As result the
whole character of the despised sand
hills is gradually undergoing change.
and IL is expected IN time that the ter
rifle winds which heretofore have swept
the hills without interference Will be
much tempered.
When the project Is completed the
Nebraska National Forest VIII be one
OF the very largest bodies OF artificial
forestation I'm the world