FARM GRASSES 
Of THE UNITED Srares 
I 
THE GRASS CROP 
HE word ‘‘ grass’’ is usedintwosenses. Popu- 
larly it is applied to those plants that furnish 
CYS hay and pasture. In this sense it includes 
the clovers, alfalfa, the vetches, spurry, and 
other plants belonging to various families. Botanic- 
ally the term is applied only to representatives of a 
single family, known to botanists as the Gramineez, or 
true grasses. In this volume, in order to avoid bur- 
densome phraseology, the word is sometimes used in 
the one sense and sometimes in the other, but the con- 
text will always indicate the meaning intended. In 
the present chapter the term is made to include those 
plants which are generally grown for hay and pasture 
purposes. 
According to the Census of 1900, about 18 per cent. 
of the total area of the United States is classed as im- 
proved land. This does not take into account Alaska 
or our insular possessions. This 18 per cent. amounts 
to 414,000,000 acres. Of this, only 289,000,000 is de- 
voted to harvested crops, including some 15,000,000 
acres of wild grasses cut for hay. This leaves about 
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