Excerpt from Grass in Conservation in the United States As far back as records go into civilization's dawn, grass has been a solid base for agriculture. Through the centuries it has provided most of the forage for livestock feed and cereals for man's own food. In the United States in the past generation grass has gained new eminence as a tool in soil and water con servation. Today it occupies a dual role of production and protection in American agriculture. The withering drought and the financial depression of the 1930's triggered an agricultural revolution that brought forth a new national program to halt soil erosion and protect renewable natural resources. With it new grassland science emerged, and new grasses and legumes for forage grow on nearly half the land area of the United States. A return of about 17 billion dollars annually comes from the livestock and poultry that eat grasses, grains, hay, and silage. On the farms of America before 1930, grass was often looked upon as a resource of minor value. In the South and in the Great Plains, farmers grew mostly clean-tilled row crops and small grains. In most of the country, improved pastures occupied a position of minor importance. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.