BY H. L. McGINITIE, A. M., OF NELIGH

     (253) WHEN Antelope County was first settled the fires in the spring and autumn had swept the prairies and uplands with great regularity and prevented the growth of forest trees and shrubs so that they were only to be found in the narrow valleys along the watercourses. Along the Elkhorn River, where they were in some measure protected from these fires, some varieties of trees had attained a very considerable size, and the settlers set up saw-mills and cut them into lumber with which they built houses and roofed sod houses. The common cottonwood (populus deltoides) grew to the greatest size along the Elkhorn valley, but the settlers in Antelope and the counties to the south soon carried them away for buildings and wood. The box elder (acer negundo), black willow (salix nigra), almond willow (salix amagdaloides), sand bar willow (salix flavitalis), and some diamond willow (salix missouriensis), were generally distributed through the valleys along the streams in the south part of the county. The red cedar (juniperus scapulorum) was quite plenty along Cedar Creek and other small streams. The hackberry (celtus occidentalis) was so plentiful along one of the northern tributaries of the Elkhorn River as to give its name to the stream. The crab apple (malus lowensis) was found along the Elkhorn and on the Verdigris, one of the tributaries of the Niobrara River in the northern part of the county. The choke cherry (prunus Virginiana) and the common plum (prunus Americana) were found along the streams and in the depressions on the uplands. The black walnut (juglans nigra), burr oak (quercus macrocarpa), linden (tillia Americana), red elm (254) (ulmus fluvia), white elm (ulmus Americana), and red ash (fraxinus lanceolata) were quite generally distributed. The ash and elms were utilized by the early settlers for posts and supports for their sheds and stables. All of these are still here and have greatly increased in number wherever protected from the fires, and elms, box elders, cottonwoods, lindens, and soft maples have been transplanted to beautify the country homes and dwellings in the towns, until scarcely a farm dwelling is without its pleasant groves and beautiful shade trees. Indeed, many of the groves planted by the early settlers have in the last few years grown so large that they furnish lumber for improvements on the farms and wood for a lifetime. Many other trees have been added to the above list since the settlement of the county, notably Osage orange, white birch, silver, soft and hard maples, catalpas, locusts, and Lombardy poplars.

     Many shrubs were here and native to the country. Two species of dogwood (cornus canadensis and cornus stolonifera), sumach (rhus glabra), sand cherry, and rosa blanda and in the northern part of the county the buffalo berry are found quite generally, and many others have come in with the settlement.

     Many fine groves of black-walnut trees, planted from seed gathered from the native trees, are to be seen in the county and walnuts are no longer a great luxury. Since the fires have ceased a great transformation has taken place in the face of the country. When fires were permitted the trees were destroyed, except in a few depressions where a few stunted specimens of plums and clumps of choke cherries had withstood the ordeal of fire, and the dwellings of the farmer stood out in the sunshine and heat of the summer, and exposed to the wide sweep of the winds in the winter. Now the farmers' dwellings stand in beautiful groves and the streets of the towns and villages are lined by rows of beautiful shade trees, and we often hear the older settlers remark that the winds do not blow so constantly or so hard as in former years. 

     (255) In the earlier settlement of the country, whenever the ground was broken or roads were traveled, the annual sunflower (helianthus annuus) and helianthus maximiliana grew in great profusion and to a very considerable height, often for miles lining the roadsides as by a grovel. The perennial grew more along the water courses and still retains its vigor, but the annual plant has become greatly dwarfed by the general cultivation and the apparent change of seasons. The flowering plants were and are still found in great variety and embrace varieties common to the east and west regions. The pulse family, or pea, with at least twenty-eight varieties, is probably the most numerous. The most frequent of this family are the astragalus, psoralea, and trifolium, on the prairies, and amorpha along the streams. The ranunculus, or crow foot, show fourteen varieties, the rosaceæ furnish eleven species with rosa blanda, the common wild rose, in the lead, but its habits are similar to the sunflower and it is gradually disappearing except where new ground is broken, when it has a run for a time. The crucifereæ, or mustard family, furnishes twelve species; the umbellifereæ, eight; onagraceæ, or evening primrose, seven; saxifragraceæ, five; schrofularaceæ, six; mint family, twelve; lily family, eight; euphorbia, six; night shade, five; verbena, four, and the buckwheat family many species. Many other families are represented by from one to five species. Among the novelties are five orchids and yuccas. In the early spring the face of the country is colored by the pea family, with many shades of blue, the puccoon and other yellow flowers, and the graceful yucca filamentosa, with its pyramid of beautiful white flowers, succeeded by the liatris, primrose, sunflower, shading off in the late fall with asters of all shades of color, fringed gentians, and other purple flowers. In the eighties, when the writer was a teacher, he made a very complete collection of the flowering plants of the county, classified them, and has since placed them with Gates Academy to be cared for while it remains a live institution. 

     (256) No collection of sedges or grasses has been made and no accurate list preserved. However, the buffalo grass (buchloe dactyloides) was found to be present generally and was a valuable forage plant for a time, but it has quite generally disappeared through cultivation and close pasturage. The gramma grasses still remain on the uncultivated pastures and meadows. The wild oat, wild rye, tufted grass, fescue grass, meadow grass, hair grass, bent grass, foxtail, and panic grass were widely distributed and still remain. The sedges are numerous and various, but I have not made them a subject of special examination and classification.

     Many plants have come, flourished for a time, and then gradually disappeared; notably the Russian thistle. It came with seeds and for a time was a serious menace to crops, but it seemed very soon to have absorbed the constituents of the soil necessary to its growth and has almost disappeared from the county. Many other plants have come in with garden and lawn seeds and for a time flourished, then languished, and again flourished when conditions and seasons became favorable. The eastern dandelion (dens leonis) has had a run for some years, but it varies with the seasons. There are some common varieties of ferns to be found in shady groves along the water courses, but not generally.

     It is not possible to include all the varieties of trees, flowering plants, and grasses within this article and only the most salient points have been covered. The flora is much more extended and varied than it is possible to state and seems to embrace a larger variety than is commonly found in so restricted a territory.