CROP REGIONS OF OHIO 67 



natural vegetation and the cultivated crops to fundamental soil and 

 climatic conditions. In the case of the cultivated plants, economic 

 conditions must be included as well, as has been shown in Part II 

 of this paper. 



(a) Com 



Ohio is one of the seven states which constitute the com belt 

 of the United States. (See Chart in Part 11.) There is in Ohio a 

 plainly marked corn belt which corresponds in many ways to the 

 corn belt of the United States. It is located in level soils with a 

 high humus and lime content. All of the western half of the state 

 may be regarded as a part of the corn belt. The center of popula- 

 tion is in the northwest. Production is cheapest on the level, fre- 

 quently prairie, soils of northwestern Ohio and the com center has 

 settled here. This was not the original corn belt of Ohio. The 

 northwest was the last section of the state to be settled, and its de- 

 velopment waited on the opening of the Erie Canal. During the last 

 fifty years production has increased in the northwest section so that 

 it outstrips all the older sections. Perhaps poor farming methods 

 of a half and a quarter century ago had something to do with a 

 decrease in the southeastern section, but even with the newest and 

 best farming methods the southeastern part of Ohio is not so well 

 adapted for com cultivation as the northwestern. The centering of 

 com in the northwest seems to be a normal, healthy migration of 

 a crop into a region to which it is well adapted. In 1916 the total 

 state estimated production of com was 82,953,943 bushels. This 

 was divided among the sections of the state as follows : 



Northwestern section 35,101,566 



Southwestern " 29,153,460 



Northeastern " 10,571,956 



Southeastern " 8,126,961 



When the production of the two western sections of the state 

 is summed we find that 78 percent, or nearly four-fifths of the corn 

 grown in Ohio was produced in the western part of the state. This 

 clearly indicates the dominance of com in the western part. If we 

 wish to make a picture of com production on a map, we will find 

 that there are three highly productive centers in the corn belt. The 

 first includes Seneca, Wood, Henry, Putnam, Allen, and Hancock 

 Counties. The second includes Franklin, Madison, Clark, Green, 



