8 Yearbook of the Department of Agricvlture^ 1921. 



ticaliy no spring wheat outside the Spring Wheat Kegion. Grass is 

 of gi-eatest importance in the Hay and Pasture Region, where in 

 nearly every county hay and pasture occupy half or more of the im- 

 proved land. (Compare Fig. 2 with Figs. 21 to 71.) 



In the West hay is the leading crop, contributing nearly 37 per 

 cent of the acreage and 26 per cent of the value of all crops in 1919, 

 and the forage obtained by grazing is probably of almost equal value. 

 Alfalfa is the leading hay crop in the Rocky Mountain and Arid 

 Intermountain regions, wild grasses in the Great Plains Region, and 

 grains cut green on the Pacific coast. Wheat contributed 21 per cent 

 of the value of all crops, oats 3 per cent, barley 3 per cent, fruit and 

 nuts 18 per cent, potatoes 4 per cent, and other vegetables 8 per cent 

 in these six western regions. The value of all crops in the western 

 regions, however, constituted in 1919 only 15 per cent of the total for 

 the United States. (Compare Fig. 2 with Fig. 21.) 



The contrast betAveen the East and West is not as pronounced in 

 live stock as in crops, except that swine are largely confined to the 

 East, while sheep are much more important in the West. There is 

 a marked distinction, however, in the manner of management, the 

 live stock in the East being fed in the barnyards or fields with shelter 

 at night, while in the West the stock is mostly grazed on the open 

 range. In the East, the Hay and Pasture Region is primarily a dairy 

 area ; while the Corn Belt is the center of the beef-cattle and swine 

 industry. In the West, the sheep are generally located in the more 

 arid and the cattle in the less arid areas; while in the North Pacific 

 Region, with its cool, moist climate, similar to that of the Hay and 

 Pasture Region, dairying is again the dominant live-stock industry. 

 (Compare Fig. 2 with Figs. 74 to 96.) 



The farms, or " ranches," in the West are, in general, much larger 

 in area than in the East. Owing to the low rainfall in the West, 

 except in the North Pacific Region, the land outside the irrigated and 

 dry-farming districts is used mostly for grazing, and instead of 80 

 or 160 acres being sufficient to support a family, as in the East, 

 2,000 to 4,000 acres, or more, are commonly required. In the dry- 

 farming areas half sections of land (320 acres) and sections (640 

 acres) are normal size farms. In the irrigated districts the farms 

 are no larger in area than in the East. The 80 or 120 acre irrigated 

 farms, however, are often worth as much as the 640- acre dry farms or 

 the 3,000-acre stock ranches. (Compare Fig. 2 with Figs. 97 to 111.) 



A larger proportion of the farms in the West are operated by their 

 owners than in the East, owing, doubtless, to the cattle ranching, 

 the more recent homestead settlement, and the larger proportion of 

 fruit farms. The proportion of farms operated by tenants in the 

 western regions ranges from 13 to 23 per cent, except in the Cali- 



