124 RURAL CALIFORNIA 



The extent to which dependence is placed in Cali- 

 fornia on grains cut green and on alfalfa for the lo- 

 cal and export hay trade is shown by the following 

 classification of hays for the two latest years in which 

 such segregation is available: 



HAY BY VARIETIES, 1916-1917 



1916 1917 



(tons) (tons) 



Timothy 44,000 101,000 



Timothy and clover mixed . . 44,000 121,000 



Clover alone 87,000 75,000 



Alfalfa 1,838,000 2,237,000 



Millet and sorghums 5,000 



Grains cut green for hay. . . 2,056,000 1,714,000 



Other tame hay 306,000 307,000 



Wild, salt, and prairie hay. 240,000 259,000 



Total all hay 4,615,000 4,819,000 



One cannot be quite sure of the accuracy of this 

 classification, because the schedule is the same as 

 used in all parts of the country and those making 

 estimates may have had to throw figures somewhat 

 to get them in. The product of "timothy and clover" 

 and of "other tame grasses" seems too large and 

 those suggesting "coarse forage" are too small to 

 include fresh-fed and siloed corn and sorghum, bean 

 straw, and the like. The chief interesting item in 

 the table is the relative standing of hay from alfalfa 

 and from grains cut green and their total compared 

 with the whole product, of which it is, roughly, four- 

 fifths. Even the spread of irrigation has given little 

 more of humid region grasses except in suburban 

 lawns. Irrigation has merely magnified alfalfa, which 



