CROP REGIONS OF OHIO 61 



(d) Hay 



Timothy and Clover Hay. — The northeastern section of the 

 United States is known to agronomists as the hay and pasture pro- 

 vince. To ecologists this is southern edge of northeastern ever- 

 green forest. Both the cultivated plants and the natural vegetation 

 are responses to the climatic conditions of this part of our country. 

 Northeastern Ohio contains the southwestern limit of the northern 

 evergreen forest. This is Ohio's hay and pasture belt. 



The total hay production for 1915 in Ohio was 2,240,761 tons. 

 This was divided as follows : 



Northeastern section 842,223 tons 



Northwestern " 646,898 tons 



Southeastern " 454,611 tons 



Southwestern " 297,029 tons 



The northern half of the state with lower summer temperatures 

 and lower evaporation making its rainfall more effective for con- 

 tinuous growth of untilled plants, has the higher production. In 

 grass hay, the eastern half of the state leads, but in clover hay the 

 western half is in advance as can be seen from the following table : 



Northwestern section 387,497 tons 



Northeastern " 120,500 tons 



Southwestern " 144,318 tons 



Southeastern " 43,901 tons 



The total clover hay production for 1915 was 746,226 tons. 

 The difference in clover production in the eastern and western half 

 of the state is doubtless due to limestone. All of the soils of the 

 western half of the state are naturally underlain with limestone 

 bedrock. A good deal of the limestone material was brought near 

 the surface by glacial action and subsequent weathering has not yet 

 leached away all of it. It is a well known fact that clovers grow 

 best when inoculated with the nitrogen gathering bacteria. These 

 bacteria grow best in non-acid soil medium. The grasses are not 

 dependent upon these bacteria. Furthermore, a meadow of timothy 

 will be productive of compact clay soils where clover would be only 

 moderately productive. This again shows the importance of the 

 bacteria to clover production. In the tight clay soils the air cir- 

 culates less freely, so the growth of bacteria is limited. The soils 

 with a high lime content and a high humus content, as many of the 



