UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



5959 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



which greatly reduces the profits to Southern 

 stock raisers. In the blue grass districts of 

 Kentucky and Tennessee blooded horses are 

 raised, largely for saddle purposes, besides ex- 

 cellent mules. The principal market for race 

 horses in the United States is Lexington, Ky , 

 while Saint Louis, Mo., is probably the world's 

 leading market for mules. 



North-Central Section. In the northern part 

 of the interior plain the several kinds of grain 

 are grown more or less indiscriminately. South 

 of Milwaukee, however, the principal crops are 

 corn and winttr wfitat, which is sown in the 

 f:ill and therefore needs a moderate winter. 

 This is generally known as the corn belt. In 

 the northern part of the section, the great crop 

 is spring wheat, though good crops of barley 

 and rye are also grown, rye especially on sandy 

 soil. Oats are a common crop in all parts of 

 this section. Owing chiefly to the grain fields 

 of this region, the United States produces more 

 corn and wheat than any other country. Cora 

 is by far the leading crop, whether measured 

 by acres or value. 



In parts of Ohio and Southern Wisconsin the 

 leading crop is tobacco. Farther north, sugar 

 beets are increasingly grown, especially in 

 Michigan and parts of Wisconsin. The sugar 

 beet belt lies mostly north of the true corn 

 belt, because beets require to be cultivated at 

 the same time as corn. Another important 

 crop in the same zone of mixed farming is field 

 beans, which arc harvested and threshed much 

 like wheat. In the output of beans, Michigan 

 holds first place. A third crop in this zone is 

 potatoes. In Western Minnesota and the Da- 

 kotas, especially where the soil is new and 

 strong, flax is extensively grown, as yet princi- 

 pally for the seeds, which are the source of 

 linseed oil. This is valuable for use in paints, 

 since it dries on exposure to the air.- In all the 

 states of the north-central region fruits such 

 as apples and plums are grown for local use. 

 Along the .-out hern and eastern shore of the 

 Great Lakes, which lessen the extremes of heat 

 and cold, great quantities of fruit arc grown for 

 the market; this district has the largest output 

 of fruit, next to California. 



In th< north rcntral section stock raising be- 

 gan with the early settlers, and by 1805 stock 

 was being driven across the mountains to mar- 

 ket. With the coming of the railroad in 1851, 

 mg to market gave way to shipment by 

 rail. As the railroads advanced westward, fol- 

 lowed by the farmer, the herds could be <1; 

 on in search of fresh pastures. At the present 



time sheep arc still of some importance in 

 Ohio and Michigan, which were once the chief 

 sheep-raising states, though mutton rather than 

 wool is now the main product. The fact ap- 

 pears to be that rich land in this section has 

 become too valuable to be used for grazing 

 sheep; moreover, the killing of sheep by dogs 

 seriously diminishes the profits. 



Hogs are raised in enormous numbers in the 

 com belt, and likewise in connection with tin- 

 dairy, being raised on skim milk and then fat- 

 tened on corn. In this section com is chiefly 

 fed to stock and then marketed on the hoof, 

 since it commands a higher price in the form 

 of meat and is also condensed so as to save 

 two-thirds of the freight. Moreover, live stock 

 is of great value in maintaining the fertility of 

 the soil. On the plains west of the agricultural 

 zone, from Western Texas north to Montana, 

 cattle and sheep arc still raised on wild grasses 

 and shipped into the corn belt to be fed. The 

 grazing industry is thus quite distinct from the 

 feeding industry. However, with the extension 

 of crop growing westward, the area available 

 for stock raising on the wild grasses has been 

 greatly diminished. This is one reason for the 

 rising price of meat in recent years. 



While the production of meat animals has 

 decreased, the dairy industry has made rapid 

 progress, partly because the soil in the older 

 states had been injured by constant cropping of 

 grain. The leading dairy state in the north- 

 central section is Wisconsin, which has now 

 surpassed New York in the production of 

 cheese and also is a large producer of butter. 

 Minnesota is also coming to be known as a 

 great "bread and butter" state. Dairying i> 

 most promising industry in the states bordering 

 the Great Lakes, since grass and roots flourish 

 th. i. l>rttT than grains. Another reason for 

 the more rapid progress of dairying in Wiscon- 

 sin and Minnesota is that the farmers t: 

 have organized cooperutm inatneries on th< 

 Danish modi I. whereas in some other sections 

 the business is run by great private creameries 

 which pay t! materially less a pound 



for butter fat than i* paid where coopen 

 creameries prevail 



In the great plains east of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains most of the rain falls in summer, owing to 

 the drawing in of moist air from the south and 

 east by the passage of areas of low pressure at 

 that season. In recent years it has therefore 

 been found possible to grow certain crops in 

 this region without irrigation, such as Kafir 

 corn (a kind of millet) and Durum wheat, 



