THE BLUE-GRASSES 



93 



Region of Kentucky. According to Bulletin 19 of the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Department 

 of Agriculture, the principal centre for the commercial 

 production of blue-grass seed is Bourbon, Fayette, and 

 Clark counties, Kentucky, in the heart of the Blue- 

 Grass Region. Considerable seed is harvested in the 

 adjoining counties of Scott, Montgomery, Woodford, 

 Franklin, and Jessamine. ' ' Most of the seed is secured 

 within a radius of twenty-five miles from the centre of 

 a triangle formed by lines connecting the cities of 

 Lexington, Paris, and Winchester." In recent years 

 considerable blue-grass seed has been harvested in 

 southern Iowa and northern Missouri. Small quan- 

 tities are also harvested in other States. 



Distribution. — Fig. 19 shows approximately the dis- 

 tribution of blue-grass in this country. By referring 

 to Fig. 17, it will be seen that blue-grass agrees very 

 closely with timothy in its distribution. These two 

 grasses and red clover, which has nearly the same 

 distribution, undoubtedly account for the high de- 

 velopment of livestock farming in the northeastern 

 quarter of the United States. 



Each dot on the map shown in Fig. 19 represents a 

 correspondent who, in answer to a circular letter, re- 

 ported blue-grass as an important grass in his locality. 

 The census returns give no clue to the area devoted to 

 blue-grass. What little hay is cut from it is included 

 in the ' ' other tame grasses ' ' of the census reports. 

 The yield of blue-grass hay seldom exceeds half a ton 

 per acre, except in very restricted localities on the 

 north Pacific Coast, and it is therefore seldom cut for 

 hay. 



