GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIB UT10N 



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considered as lying east of the IOOth meridian. It occupies CHAP, 

 the rich, alluvial bottom lands of the rivers Missouri, Missis- IIL 

 sippi, Ohio, and their tributaries. West of this there are, 

 roughly speaking, four zones of vegetation, none of which is 

 likely to become a maize producer of importance, owing to the 

 climatic and other conditions described below. A recent 

 American authority has stated that this country has now 

 reached a point where increased acreage will play a minor role 

 in the future in the increased production of this great cereal 

 (Bozvman and Crossley, i). 



37. The Sub-arid Zone. — The western portion of the States 

 of South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, 

 lying, approximately, west of the I ooth meridian, is a sub- 

 arid zone of prairie, nearly 200 miles wide, where, without 

 irrigation, good crops grow only one or two years out of five. 

 The eastern border of this zone roughly corresponds with the 

 2,000 feet contour, where the country begins to rise from the 

 river basin towards the Rocky Mountains. 



38. The Rocky Mountains Zone. — West of the sub-arid zone 

 lie the Rocky Mountains, comprising pastoral and forest areas. 



39. The Great Basin. — Between the Rocky Mountains 

 and the Sierra Nevada of California, lies the Great Basin, at 

 one time known as the " Great American Desert ". Though 

 the rainfall is scanty, this region is scarcely a desert in the 

 ordinary sense of the word ; it is largely covered with sage- 

 brush and sparse grass furnishing grazing for stock. Crops are 

 only grown where irrigation can be applied, and irrigated land 

 grows lucerne more profitably than maize. 



40. The Pacific Slope. — In the northern portion there is 

 ample rain, but, as it falls principally in winter, the region 

 is not well suited to maize-growing on a large scale. The 

 irrigated lands can be more profitably planted to lucerne and 

 fruit than to maize. A certain amount of sugar maize is 

 grown for canning and eating fresh as " green corn ". 



41. The Atlantic States. — The North Atlantic States of 

 Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and the New England 

 States, have too short a growing season to produce large crops 

 of maize. Sugar maize is extensively grown, however, for 

 canning purposes, even in localities too far north to permit of 

 the ripening of the grain. In New Hampshire maize is grown 



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