CHAPTER V 

 MEADOW PLANTS 



Meadow plants are those used for hay. A meadow is 

 an area upon which are growing plants that are to be cut 

 for hay. Meadows may be conveniently divided into two 

 classes, wild or native meadows, and tame or cultivated 

 meadows. 



The hay product of the United States is one of the most 

 valuable of the agricultural crops, the total yield of hay 

 and forage according to the thirteenth census being 

 97,453,735 tons, valued at $824,004,877. 



NATIVE MEADOWS 



40. There are three kinds of native meadows, accord- 

 ing to the grass that grows upon them. These are prairie, 

 fresh marsh, and salt marsh. In all cases the chief portion 

 of the forage is made up of various species of grasses, the 

 other plants being incidental or even harmful. Prairie 

 hay is cut from native prairie that is sufficiently dry to 

 be used for field crops. Because available for cultiva- 

 tion, the area of prairie meadow is decreasing as the land 

 is gradually broken by the plow. Open grass-land, such 

 as swales, or the low areas along streams or ponds that are 

 intermediate between arable land and swamps, is often 

 reserved permanently for meadow. 



In the prairie region and in the eastern portion of the 

 Great Plains, the chief constituents of prairie hay are 



(38) 



