THE GRASS CROP 9 
would indicate. In the first place, red clover is very 
commonly sown with timothy, the area thus sown 
probably being several times as large as the area of 
clover sown alone. In the second place, they are 
nitrogen gatherers, and are thus of vast importance in 
furnishing nitrogenous material in feed-stuffs and as 
soil renovators. But a further discussion of this sub- 
ject would transcend the limits of this volume, which 
is confined, except in a most general way, to a discus- 
sion of the true grasses. 
The next most important crop in the list consists 
of grains cut green for hay. Its distribution is shown 
in Fig. 2. The area of this crop is 3,884,000 acres, 
and the average yield 1.3 tons. The grains are used 
extensively for hay only on the Pacific Coast. On 
non-irrigated lands in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, 
and California, where the rainfall is sufficient to per- 
mit of farming, wheat is by far the most important 
crop. Over much of this area wild oats are very 
troublesome, and the principal hay consists of patches 
of wild oats cut in wheat-fields. Even where wild oats 
are not troublesome, as where the rainfall is less than 
about eighteen inches annually, much wheat is cut for 
hay. If cut at the proper stage, wheat, and the other 
cereals as well, make excellent hay for all kinds of 
stock. In California beardless barley is used exten- 
sively for hay; this crop is also coming into use in 
Oregon and Washington for the same purpose. Al- 
falfa and brome-grass (Bromus inermis) are also rap- 
idly coming into favor on the wheat-lands east of the 
Cascade Mountains in the two States last named. 
Throughout the Central and Southern States the 
