The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1892-12-20
THE WESTWARD EXTENSION OF
THE GRASS BELT.

Farmers who do not travel exten-
sively west of the Missouri river have
little conception of how rapidly the
grass belt-that is, the region where
the cultivated grasses are grown with
proft-has extended westward during
the last few years. We remember very
we'll when even good farmers claimed
that tame grasses would not grow in
eastern Iowa We can point out many
farmers in western Iowa who predicted
ten years ago that the tame grasses
would never be grown in their section,
and yet In the last ten years they have
extended to the extreme western line
of the State and far beyond it into Ne
braska and Kansas. No one can GER
tainly tell how far west these grasses
will flourish. Like many other agri-
cultural problems, it is a question that
must be determined by actual expert
ment. 1t is not likely that the limit
will ever be defined by parallels of
longitude. The grass belt will be quite
an irregular one, depending somewhat
on rainfall, but very largely on the
character Of hesub soil of the different
districts Glover will grow farther
west than timothy, orchard grass as
far or farther than clover, blue grass
farther than timothy, but not so far as
clover, and beyond all these there is a
region where alfalfa can be grown with
out irrigation, and beyond this still,
extending to the Pacific coast, there
are many sections where, with irriga
tion, it will become one Of the best pay
ing crops that can be grown.
The effect of the extension Of the
grass belt will be felt in very many
ways and in nearly all Of them with
great benefit to agriculture. The i'm
mediate effect of the extension of the
grass belt is to reduce farm population
by increasing the size of the farms
The philosophy of this is simple A
farmer with very little help can take
care of one hundred and sixty acres of
mixed farming, whereas it would re
quire all his time to handle so acres
in growing cereals. He therefore buys
an 80 acre farm from hisneighbor, who
has, perhaps, become discouraged or
fallen behind, uses the temporary build
ing5 and house for cattle and stock
sheds which are needed for the live
stock that comes naturally with the
incoming of the grasses. This is one
farmer less in the township. The
natural result of the extension of the
grass culture is the increase of the size
of the farms and stop to the growth
of towns tributary to the farms. A
decrease of agricultural population,
even though it be hired help, sooner or
later affects the growth of the towns,
and when a town once stops growing it
Immediately begins to go back ward,
for the reason that carpenters AMI
other tradesmen find business dull and
seek other places where business is
more brisk, and this still further de-
creases the population of the town.
This is the immediate effect 1t is, on
the whole, good for the country, but
not good for the city.
One of the first effects of the intro
duction of the tame grasses is demand
for creameries. Stock must be had to
consume the grass, and in most coun-
tries where grass culture has been in
troduced, land is too high to allow a
man to buy his calves by keeping the
COWS for no other purpose. A creamery
then becomes essential, and, once in
troduced, business of trading country
butter for store goods receives a sudden
check, for the reason that the cream
in good condition is worth more than
the butter, and this being cash prod
uct, farmers find it more profitable to
buy their groceries for cash than in the
way of trade. The cash system comes
in as the result of grass culture, and
this is a consideration of far more i'm
portance than is usually supposed.
Another result of the introduction of
grass is the decrease in the acreage of
grain, and for the time being in the
total number Of bushels grown in any
district. The effect is seen at once in
the decline of the value Of elevator
property and also in the amount of
cav material furnished the railroads
for shipment. Hence, it is not surpris
ing to find the State that has adopted
grass culture giving far fewer gross
tons for shipment than it did ten, fif-
teen or twenty years ago. Railroad
managers complain bitterly of this, but
it is one of the inevitable results of inn
proved farming. The fact is, one Of