78 FARM GRASSES OF THE UlflTED STATES 



The outstandiag importance of timothj- is due 

 largely to the fact that, except in the alfalfa regions 

 of the West, nearly all our hay is produced in the 

 region to which timothy is best adapted. Perhaps 

 ha3' production may be largel}" confined to the timothy 

 region because no other grass has been found dapable 

 of taking its place in other sections. Certain it is 

 that, except in the Far West, haj' production and live- 

 stock farming are nearly confined to the region of 

 timothy, clover, and blue-grass, all of which have 

 nearly the same distribution. 



The lack of forage plants and grasses, and, conse- 

 quently, of live stock, in the Southern States is prob- 

 abh- due more to the cotton-plant than to any other 

 one cause. Should the cotton boll wee\-il render 

 cotton unprofitable in the South, there is abundant 

 reason to believe that plenty of good grasses may be 

 grown to make stock-raising profitable south of the 

 timothy region. It is an interesting fadl, referred to 

 earlier in these pages, that nearly all the grass Utiera- 

 ture issued by the experiment stations of this country 

 comes from those States that lie either on the border 

 of the timothy region or entirely outside of it. In the 

 timothj- region (where clover and blue-grass also 

 abound) the grass question ceased to be a pressing one 

 before the experiment stations were established. 



Fig. 17 shows approximately the distribution of 

 timothy in this countrj-. This map was constmdted 

 as follows : On a countj- map of the United States a 

 large dot was placed in each county showing over 5,000 

 acres of "other tame grasses " (mainly timothy, and 

 mixtures in which timothy is the leading constituent) , 



