COTTON AND REGIONALISM 3 



lands. 7 In addition to physical factors, W. J. Spillman 8 

 sees biological and economic factors as determining plant 

 regions. Bacterial content oi soils, the preference of al- 

 falfa for alkaline soils, and the relation of soils and cli- 

 mates to insect pests and fungous diseases he classifies 

 as biological. Under economic factors determining plant 

 production are the value per unit of weight, and the 

 distance to market. 



The main plants affected by these various factors are 

 corn, wheat, cotton, oats, and hay. Together they nor- 

 mally occupy more than 30,000,000 acres apiece on 

 American farms, taking more than 87 per cent of the 

 total crop area of the country. 9 In combination with live 

 stock they make up the various types of farming. Be- 

 ginning with the South, Dr. Baker lists the following 

 agricultural regions of the eastern part of the United 

 States : 



1. Subtropical Crops Belt. 



2. Cotton Belt. 



3. Middle Atlantic Trucking Region. 



4. Corn and Winter Wheat Belt. 



5. Corn Belt. 



6. Hay and Dairying Belt. 



7. Spring Wheat Area. 10 



The western United States he divides according to 

 crops produced into the following areas: 



8. Grazing and Irrigated Crops Region. 



9. Columbia Plateau Region. 



10. Pacific Subtropic Crops Region. 



11. North Pacific Hay, Pasture, and Forest Region. 



7 Ibid., p. 466. 



8 In Distribution of Types of Farming in the United States, 

 Farmers' Bulletin 1289, p. 3. 



9 Ibid., p. 2. 



10 Dept. of Agriculture Yearbook, 1921, Fig. 2, p. 416; ibid., p. 472. 



