THE GRASS CROP 3 



manent prosperit}-, the grasses and livestock have 

 always occupied an important place. In the New Eng- 

 land States, which have felt keenly the competition of 

 the fertile lands of the Central West, agriculture has 

 been able to maintain itself only by devoting the major 

 portion of the improved land to grasses. Other crops 

 may form the Ijasis of temporary prosperity, as has 



FIG. I PERCENTAGE OF IMPROVED LAND DEVOTED 



TO HAY AND FORAGE 



been the case with wheat on the prairies of the North- 

 west and the Pacific Northwest, and cotton in the 

 South; but it was a prosperity that rested on too slen- 

 der a basis, and, in both cases, led to disaster. 



The distribution of the grass crop in the United 

 States is shown in Fig. i . This shows the percentage 

 of improved land in each State devoted to hay and 

 forage. The States may be divided into four fairly 

 distindt groups, based on these percentages. The first 



