CORN. The largest and most valuable American crops are corn and hay. They are at the basis of the great stock-raising interests of the coun try. Since the bulk of both crops are consumed on the farm and not placed upon the market, and hence are not 'money crops/ their importance is usually lost sight of in discussions of American California has the largest number of irriga tors, but Colorado has the largest irrigated area. The number of irrigators increased faster than the area irrigated, thus showing a tendency to subdivide large irrigated tracts and cut them up into smaller homesteads devoted to fruit-raising. Streams are the principal source of the water supply, although wells are of some importance in Ca lifornia. The value of crops grown on ir rigated land is much the greatest in California. In the census year the crops irrigated with their acreage were as follows: Hay and forage, 3.665. 654 acres; cereals, 1,399,709 acres; orchard fruits, 251,289 acres; other crops. 226.881 acres.
The following diagram shows the relative size of the eleven arid States and Territories, with area in private ownership, farm area, and im proved irrigated acreage: agriculture. Corn stands without a rival either in respect to area or value. It is indigenous to America, and its production is still largely con fined to this continent, the United States pro ducing about three-fourths of the world's sup ply. It is the distinctive American crop. It has a larger acreage than all other cereals com bined. See AlmzE.
HAY. As compared with corn, hay is of greater relative importance in regions which are not well adapted for the growing of corn. but where the demand for stock-food is nevertheless great. Thus in the North Atlantic States the acreage of hay is nearly one-third greater than the total area devoted to cereals, and in the Western division of States the acreage of hay is over twenty-nine times that of corn and seven eighths as great as that of all cereals combined.
In the latter region a large part of the crop has the advantage of irrigation. In most of the North Central States hay is the second crop in respect to acreage and value. In the cotton States but little attention is given it, although there has been a significant increase in this section in recent years. (See Table.) The in crease in the acreage of hay has been especially rapid since 1S80, the area devoted to it having doubled between 1880 and 1900. the greatest part of this gain being made in the earlier of the two decades, corresponding to the period in which there was a decadence in wheat culture. The prairie region was easily adaptable to the raising of this crop. Moreover, the increased attention given to cattle and horses, and the need of put ting the soil under grass to improve its produc tivity in the older States, have tended to de velop this crop. The principal variety of hay is timothy, its production being confined largely to the North Central and the North Atlantic States. But comparatively little of any other kind is grown in the latter division of States. Next in importance are wild salt and prairie grasses, which are produced in the region in which timo thy is little grown—the more arid prairie region and westward. Clover ranks third in acreage, lint is a long way removed. lts production is largest in the North Central States. In the West ern division of States alfalfa is the most impor tant hay. Two or more crops of this variety of hay are obtained annually, and alfalfa stands first in yield per acre. In the far West, especially California, large quantities of grain are ent green for hay. Millet and forage crops are grown in most parts of the country.