78 FARM GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



The outstanding importance of timothy is due 

 largely to the fact that, except in the alfalfa regions 

 of the West, nearly all our hay is produced in the 

 region to which timothy is best adapted. Perhaps 

 hay production may be largely confined to the timothy 

 region because no other grass has been found capable 

 of taking its place in other sections. Certain it is 

 that, except in the Far West, hay production and live- 

 stock farming are nearly confined to the region of 

 timothy, clover, and blue-grass, all of which have 

 nearly the same distribution. 



The lack of forage plants and grasses, and, conse- 

 quently, of live stock, in the Southern States is prob- 

 ably due more to the cotton-plant than to any other 

 one cause. Should the cotton boll weevil render 

 cotton unprofitable in the South, there is abundant 

 reason to believe that plenty of good grasses may be 

 grown to make stock-raising profitable south of the 

 timothy region. It is an interesting fact, referred to 

 earlier in these pages, that nearly all the grass litera- 

 ture issued by the experiment stations of this country 

 comes from those States that lie either on the border 

 of the timothy region or entirely outside of it. In the 

 timothy region (where clover and blue-grass also 

 abound) the grass question ceased to be a pressing one 

 before the experiment stations were established. 



Fig. 17 shows approximately the distribution of 

 timothy in this country. This map was constructed 

 as follows : On a county map of the United States a 

 large dot was placed in each county showing over 5,000 

 acres of " other tame grasses" (mainly timothy, and 

 mixtures in which timothy is the leading constituent), 



