FORAGE AND FIBER CROPS 17 



addition to the harvested hay and fodder crops, this class 

 includes the pasture plants. The total area in harvested 

 forage crops in 1909 was 71,915,000 acres, or 15.06 per cent 

 of the total acreage of improved farm land. The production 

 of hay and forage was 97,147,000 tons, and the value of this 

 forage was $822,476,000. No definite value can be placed 

 on the acreage in pasture, which is much greater than the 

 acreage in harvested forage crops. 



Nearly all forage crops may be included in one of two 

 general classes, the grasses and the legumes. The first 

 includes timothy, blue grass, redtop, brome grass, Bermuda 

 grass, Johnson grass, and all similar crops; the legumes 

 include such crops as alfalfa, red clover, white clover, cow- 

 peas, soy beans, Japan clover, and field peas. Most of these 

 are grown ordinarily for forage, either as hay or pasture 

 crops, though a few, such as field peas, cowpeas, soy beans, 

 field beans, and peanuts, may be grown for their seeds. 



Of the nearly 72,000,000 acres in harvested hay and forage 

 crops reported by the Census of 1910, 27.17 per cent was in 

 mixed timothy and clover meadow; 23.45 per cent in wild, 

 salt, or prairie grasses, and 20.4 per cent in timothy alone. 

 Alfalfa occupied 6.54 per cent of this area; clover alone, 3.4 

 per cent; grains cut green for hay, 5.92 per cent; and coarse 

 fodder, such as sorghum and fodder corn, 5.69 per cent. 



9. Fibers. The fiber crops grown in the United States 

 are cotton, flax, and hemp. Of these three, cotton is by far 

 the most important. Its cultivation is confined to the 

 southeastern portion of the country, including Texas and 

 Oklahoma. The cotton crop ranks second in value of all 

 our field crops, being surpassed only by corn. Flax is 

 grown principally for grain; its use as fiber is merely inci- 

 dental. Hemp is produced in a limited way in a few scat- 

 tered areas. 



