The West 23 



government, but do not contribute a dollar for the sup- 

 port of the same. 



After the land is once under control, regardless of the 

 method by which this result is obtained, improved methods 

 of management may be expected. Deferred grazing will 

 be practiced to improve the grass, while fencing will re- 

 duce the cost of handling, lessen the amount of range re- 

 quired, permit the use of better stock, and lastly give a 

 permanence and stability which the industry does not 

 now possess. 



CULTIVATED AREAS 



According to the latest available statistics put out by 

 the United States Department of Agriculture in the 1915 

 Yearbook, there are in the eleven states lying entirely 

 within the region under discussion, a total of nineteen 

 million acres of land actually in crop. The significance 

 of these figures is shown by the fact that these eleven states 

 comprise nearly one-half the total area of the United 

 States, yet from the standpoint of cultivated lands, there 

 are three states of the Union any one of which contains 

 more land actually in crop than the entire eleven states 

 of the West. For example, Kansas alone contains almost 

 twenty million acres of land in crops, while Illinois and 

 Iowa each contain a little more than twenty million acres. 



The cultivated areas of the West are of three distinct 

 classes : irrigated, dry-farm, and humid. The irrigated 

 sections comprise small scattered valleys always of limited 

 area. The chief crop in these irrigated valleys is alfalfa, 

 although considerable grain is grown in some sections 

 together with fruit of various kinds. These valleys are 

 perhaps best known for their fruit production but from 

 the standpoint of real importance, either as money or 



