Bluegrass Region Research Articles

Appalachian Enigma

^ /T Q APPALACHIAN ENIGMA by Richard Relham Bob sat before a cheerful wood fire in his get-away cabin and surveyed his two companions contentedly. The three of them had come up from the city for a relaxing week-end and their congeniality was anchored in years of friendship. Bob himself was a professor of American history at State University; Kent, who came originally from central Ohio, taught psychology in the same university; and Greg was a surgeon of New England origins, educated in New York, and now engaged in a lucrative practice in the university city. He lived next door to Bob and they saw each other almost daily. The cabin in which they sat was secluded in one of the remoter areas of the Cumberlands. Kent asked the question. "Didn't this land belong to your ancestors?" "Right," replied Bob. "I inherited this portion of it from my father and built this cabin as a retreat. It sits on almost the same spot as the log cabin of the original Lester." "Your family came in with the original pioneers?" asked Greg. "He was probably in the first or second wave of settlers," Bob answered. "We don't know much about the first Robert except that he came from Virginia some time in the last half of the eighteenth century. The chances are he was a tenant on some Virginia farm or a younger son in a large family and he came west looking for land of his own." "I suppose most of the early settlers in these parts came from Virginia since it 50 was a part of that state in earlier times," commented Greg. "Yes, most of the original settlers in Appalachia came from Virginia and the Carolinas and crossed the Appalachians on their way west. Some were driven by wanderlust and the lure of adventure, but more of them were seeking farming land. Some had lived on their farms back home till the land was worn out and they were forced to seek richer pastures to the west. Often it was a case of one son staying on the home farm with the parents while the others moved west to find new lands. Some may have been new immigrants from Europe who found Tidewater and Piedmont filled up and sought lands on the frontier. "I wonder why your ancestor didn't continue on to the bluegrass region further west where the land was much better," speculated Kent. "My ancestors crossed the Appalachians, too, but they moved on to the richer farming land in Ohio." Bob shook the ashes from his pipe and tapped it on an andiron before refilling it. Then he smiled at Kent and asked, "Have you heard of the broken wagon wheel theory?" Kent shook his head and Bob continued. "Many people have wondered why anyone chose to settle in the Appalachians. All explanations are speculative, but several have the ring of truth. Among the funniest is the broken wagon wheel hypothesis which includes the whole area of disgust or discouragements with the hardships of migrating west. This theory surmises a settler with his wife, a half dozen children, and perhaps some assorted kin-folk who reached the end of their endurance. They have fought Indians, forded rivers, chopped trees out of the trail and wrestled the wagon holding their possessions up and down mountains. Finally, when they are crossing a small river a wagon wheel breaks down and seems beyond repair. The man scans the fertile bottom land along the river, the forested ridges behind it, takes another look at the crippled wagon in the middle of the ford and turns to his wife, 'Old woman,'he says, 'this looks like a good place to me. Let's set down right here.' The rest agree and after dragging the wagon to the bank each family member sets out to do one of the chores attendant on settling down. An older son goes off to the woods with his rifle to shoot some meat for supper while two others take off for a pool in the river to try their luck at fishing. The little girls begin to pick blackberries while the older...

Petrology and Depositional Environments of Boyle Dolomite (Middle Devonian) in East-Central Kentucky: ABSTRACT

The Middle Devonian Boyle Dolomite is a sequence of dolomite, dolomitic limestone, limestone, chert, and shale which has been deposited on a regional unconformity that truncates successively older units toward the axis of the Cincinnati arch. The Boyle varies in thickness (0 to 11 m) and crops out in a 40-km-wide, northeast-trending, arcuate belt on the eastern margin of the Blue Grass region. The Boyle Dolomite is divided into the following four lithofacies: Kiddville, Winston (Boyle limestone), Casey, and Duffin. The basal Kiddville is a quartzose dolomicstone with abundant fish remains and represents the slow accumulation of a lag deposit in a platform environment. The Winston (Boyle limestone) is a crinoidal grainstone-packstone and indicates a full marine transgression with high-energy winnowing action on the shelf. The Casey is a cherty dolomicstone with a sparse fauna and represents continued transgression of carbonate mud environments. The Duffin is an interbedded dolomicstone and shale with an abundant and diverse trace-fossil assemblage and marks the transition between carbonate and clastic deposition in Middle to Late Devonian time. An upward decrease in fossil abundance, diversity, and detrital clastics corresponds to an increase in the percentage of dolomite. Iron substitution in the dolomite crystal lattice increases upward and suggests an influence of reducing diagenetic environments. Trace-fossil analysis reveals a shelf to slope assemblage in the Boyle. The Boyle Dolomite represents the marine transgression in the western margin of the basin during Middle Devonian time. The transition between open-marine carbonate and anoxic black shale is a shelf to slope carbonate mud with a predominant infaunal assemblage. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1589------------

Some Aspects of the Autecology and population Biology of Phacelia purshii

Phacelia purshii Buckl. is a winter annual; germination occurs in autumn and mature seeds are dispersed in late May and June. Seeds are dormant at maturity and afterripen during summer. Optimum temperature for germination of afterripened seeds is 30/15 C, and seeds germinate better in light (14-hr photoperiod) than in darkness. During annual population establishment in autumn seed germination rate greatly exceeds seedling death rate, but nevertheless many seedlings die during this period. In 1971 36.8% of the plants germinating in eight .04 m2 quadrats died during autumn, and only 29.3% survived to reproductive maturity. Seed production in the same plots ranged from 997 to 6100 in the spring of 1972. Not all the viable seeds at the population site germinate in a given year, and thus viable, ungerminated seeds are always present in the soil. INTRODUCTION Phacelia purshii Buckl. (Hydrophyllaceae), miami mist, is an annual plant species native to eastern United States (Constance, 1949, 1950). According to Constance, its range is from Pennsylvania and Maryland S to Georgia and Alabama and W to Illinois and eastern Missouri. In addition, it occurs in southeastern Minnesota (Gleason, 1952), Wisconsin and Oklahoma, and is occasionally adventive in New England (Fernald, 1950). The various habitats described for the species include Shaded banks, borders of woods, copses (Mohr, 1901), flood plains, banks and slopes of terraces of streams, ... along roadsides, and in clover fields (Deam, 1940), in deciduous (Constance, 1949), Rich woods, clearings, and fields (Fernald, 1950), <'Rich woods and thickets, usually alluvial soil (Jones and Fuller, 1955), Moist woods and fields (Strausbaugh and Core, 1958) and low, rich or alluvial sandy or gravelly soils bordering streams, alluvial thickets, open woodland, ledges and slopes along bluffs (Steyermark, 1963). In the Inner Bluegrass Region of Kentucky, where we have studied the species, it grows in open woods and thickets, low meadows and fields, roadsides, railroad banks and powerline rights-of-way. The taxonomic and evolutionary relationships of Phacelia purshii have been rather thoro'ughly investigated (Constance, 1949, 1950; Gillett, 1964), but little attention has been given to the ecology of this species. In this article we describe the ecological life cycle of P. purshil and present data on the population dynamics of the species.

Negro Hamlets and Agricultural Estates in Kentucky's Inner Bluegrass

rT nOURISTS, artists, and agriculturists alike have proclaimed Kentucky's Inner Bluegrass region to be one of the loveliest of all rural landscapes.1 Long, wooded lanes reach back from ornamental wrought-iron gates mounted on limestone posts. Stylish wooden fences bound the beautiful bluegrass paddocks, white ducks float leisurely in the ponds and creeks, thoroughbred horses and blooded cattle grace the fields, and stately, pillared mansions symbolize gracious living. Here is the major concentration of large agricultural estates and gentlemen farms in the United States.2

Distribution of Concretions from Selected Soils of the Inner Bluegrass Region of Kentucky

AbstractTotal iron and manganese was determined on concretions and soil samples by X‐ray emission. Soils studied included Maury, Mercer, and Lawrence, which are well‐drained, moderately well‐drained and somewhat poorly‐drained, respectively. Iron‐Manganese concretions were observed in all horizons, with a maximum of 46% by weight in a Maury C horizon. The Fe/Mn ratios decreased with increasing concretion size. This decrease was largely due to increased Mn content associated with the larger size concretions. Further analyses for composition showed that quartz and clay minerals (vermiculite, montmorillonite, kaolinite, and mica) account for most of the remaining fractions. Traces of titanium and phosphorus were also found. Microscopic studies of the concretions indicated two types of internal fabric; (i) undifferentiated (structureless), and (ii) differentiated or concentric structure. Concretions from the somewhat poorly drained soils are characterized by undifferentiated fabric and diffuse external boundaries. In contrast the concretions from the well‐drained soils are usually spherical, with sharp external boundaries and differentiated fabric.

Food Habits of the Silverjaw Minnow, Ericymba buccata Cope, in an Intermittent Stream in Kentucky

The feeding activity of the silverjaw minnow, Ericymba buccata Cope, is closely associated with that of the bluntnose minnow, Pimephales notatus (Rafinesque), and the stoneroller minnow, Campostoma anomalum (Rafinesque). Digestive tracts of 249 silverjaw minnows, taken from two stations on Plum Creek, Spencer and Bullitt counties, Kentucky, were examined and the contents identified. These data were analyzed according to the size of the fish, time of the year, and the availability of food. The food category occurring most often in digestive tracts of fish of all sizes was the order Diptera, chiefly chironomids, followed by detritus, Ephemeroptera, and Cladocera. Minnows 33 to 45 mm total length consumed more cladocerans and fewer mayflies while the reverse was observed in specimens 46 to 76 mm. A greater variety of organisms was eaten by all fish in the winter and spring. INTRODUCTION A complete understanding of community dynamics in the aquatic ecosystem depends upon a thorough knowledge of each species present. The family Cyprinidae contains more members than any freshwater group, most of which are considered to be forage species. An understanding of the biology of certain members of this family is of great value in fisheries management. The silverjaw minnow is a highly successful forage species occurring commonly in the eastern and southeastern United States (Forbes and Richardson, 1920; Moore, 1957; and Trautman, 1957). It occurs in large schools in gravelly or sandy-bottom streams of moderate gradients, feeds on benthos and detritus, and is preyed upon by various predators (Hoyt, 1969). The objectives of this study were to determine the kinds and numbers of food organisms consumed by minnows of different lengths and during different seasons. Observations were made on the availability of food organisms in the stream and were related to their utilization by the minnows. STUDY AREA Plum Creek is a small tributary of the Salt River in north-central Kentucky (Shelby, Bullitt, and Spencer counties). It flows over a belt of Ordovician limestone in the western section of the Outer Bluegrass Region, and as a result of this stratigraphy the area exhibits a relatively flat, mildly karstic topography with few forests and soils of fair 1 Contribution 128 (New Series) from the Department of Biology, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky 40208, from a doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of Louisville, June 1969. 2 Present address: Biology Department, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green 42101.

Interrelation of Mineralogy and Texture Within an Ordovician Lexington Limestone Section in Central Kentucky

ABSTRACT Areal and stratigraphic data on the Ordovician limestone of the Kentucky Bluegrass region is increasing rapidly due to the cooperative Kentucky-Federal geologic mapping program. This study of the interrelations of mineralogy and texture of the Lexington Limestone supports the validity of the lithologic units used in the mapping program and establishes a centrally located reference. The Lexington Limestone has essentially no dominantly detrital units. The shale beds of the formation are more than 50 percent carbonate. The 255 foot thick section reported on here contains only 8 to 9 percent insoluble material. Authigenic quartz is widespread as silt-sized and larger particles. There is little if any subsilt-sized silica in these rocks. Detrital quartz is very sparse except for the bas l Curdsville Member. Illite is the only clay mineral group identified. A search for metabentonite proved negative although some admixture is probable. Pyrite is ubiquitous and amounts to units of percent of the insoluble residues. Dolomite is widespread, but minor in the formation. The limestones vary from micrite to coarse biosparite. The environment of deposition ranged from quiet to moderately agitated shallow water.

Thoroughbred Horse Farming in Florida

Thoroughbred Horse Farming in Florida Alice Luthy Tym and James R. Anderson * In the western part of Marion County in north-central Florida, in the vicinity of Ocala, a major new industry has developed in recent years. The breeding and raising of Thoroughbred horses in the Ocala area actually was begun by Carl Rose in the 1930's. However, the industry remained small for many years, and only three Thoroughbred farms existed in 1956 when Needles, a Florida-bred horse, won the Kentucky Derby. By 1960 the Ocala Stud Farm, one of the three farms in existence in 1956 and the breeding place of Needles, emerged as a major commercial breeder of Thoroughbreds. Today, only a little more than Ì0 years after the first significant victory, Florida ranks third after Kentucky and California in the breeding of Thoroughbreds. Only in the Lexington (Bluegrass area) of Kentucky is there a greater local concentration of Thoroughbred production. In 1966 there were 75 Thoroughbred farms in the western part of Marion County (Fig. 1). These farms occupy in total nearly 27,000 acres and have a horse population of nearly 4,500. (1) The 1956 victory by Needles was followed by the Kentucky Derby victory of Carry Back in 1962. These two triumphs, plus the success of the Ocala Stud Farm in producing a sizeable number of stakes stars in a relatively few years, had served to give the Ocala area a favorable image as a rival of the Bluegrass and other Thoroughbred centers in California, Virginia, Maryland, and elsewhere. When Roman Brother was named the 1965 Horse of the Year by the Morning Telegraph and Daily Racing Form, thus ending Kelso's five-year reign, the Thoroughbred industry of Marion County was firmly established and recognized. These successes on the race track undoubtedly gave the necessary triggering impact or the initial impetus to the establishment of Thoroughbred production in Florida. A careful evaluation of responses given by managers and owners of Thoroughbred farms to a senes of questions used for obtaining information in this study clearly indicates, however, that several basic conditions were significant in accounting for the development of the industry. Climate was most frequently given as one of the contributing factors for establishing a Thoroughbred farm in central Florida. The mild winter temperatures allow horses to be outside throughout the year. This means especially favorable conditions for exercising and training horses. The training tracks are never frozen. Favorable winter temperatures also permit early foaling and, since all Thoroughbreds are given a January first birthday, the Florida horse has a two-or-more month advantage over those of Kentucky and the Eastern breeding centers. The early foaling permits earlier training and track workouts; this is particularly important, since two-year-old racing is stressed in the United States. By planting winter rye and oats, year-round grazing is available, thus reducing the volume of grain •Mrs. Tym was a Ford Foundation Fellow at the University of Florida, Gainesville, where she^ received her M.A. degree in 1966. Dr. Anderson is professor of Geography at the University of Florida. The paper was accepted for publication in December 1967. Vol. VII, 1967 51 G" SCALE 0 ! 2 ? 4 5 (^ ? -T- "V THOROUGHBREDµ? HORSE FARMS 'r ~? ..·' * STUDY AREA55 STUDY AREA MARION COUNTY, FLORIDA 1966 • THOROUGHBRED HORSE FARM MARION COUNTY Figure 1 52The Southeastern Geographer and hay necessary for feeding programs. An indirect but very significant climatic advantage is the possibility of year-round racing in the tourist and resort areas of Florida. Next to climate, the favorable combination of soil, topography, and vegetation was repeatedly cited by owners and managers as a major single reason for locating their Thoroughbred farms in this particular part of Florida. Evidence that an intangible aesthetic factor has played a role in the location of these farms in Florida is not hard to discern. Those owners who moved from the Kentucky Bluegrass region particularly liked the rolling hammock landscape with its large five oak shade trees; this landscape tended to duplicate in general appearance the Bluegrass region which has become so closely associated with the breeding and rearing of Thoroughbreds (Fig. 2). The Fellowship-Hague-Zuber soil association is...

A Virginian Moves to Kentucky, 1793

JOHN BRECKINRIDGE of Virginia moved to the Bluegrass region of Kentucky in the spring of I793. For the next few years, until his death in i8o6, he was to play an important role in Kentucky and national politics, but it is his decision to leave Virginia that will concern us here.1 Breckinridge was not a buckskin-clad pioneer who fought off Indians with one hand while erecting a crude log cabin with the other. Nor was he a member of the great planter-businessman group which later set the tone of the ante-bellum Bluegrass. As a second-generation pioneer of moderate means, he was a bridge between his Indian-fighting predecessor and his aristocratic successors. As such, Breckinridge was perhaps typical of a small but important group whose part in the development of the Old West is all too neglected. It was not the lure of adventure which drew Breckinridge westward. Kentucky's great attraction for him was the economic advantage it promised over his Virginia prospects. am satisfied with this Country better than the old, for two substantial reasons, he wrote his wife's brother a few weeks after his arrival in Kentucky. i. Because my profession is more profitable; and 2ndly. Because I can provide good lands here for my children, & insure them from want, which I was not certain of in the old Country, any longer than I lived.2 In I785, soon after opening a law practice, Breckinridge married Mary Hopkins (Polly) CabelL8 Within the next eight years four children were

Social Factors Affecting Academic Performance: Further Evidence

Factors other than intelligence which influence the academic performance of high-school students have been investigated in a number of studies in recent years (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Among the factors analyzed have been social class, home conditions, peer relations, aspiration levels, and academic inclination. Since none of the studies to date can be considered definitive, this report is offered as a contribution to the limited empirical data relating social factors to student achievement. The findings reported here are, in many instances, consonant with those of earlier studies. Some of the data, however, fail to support the conclusions of previous studies. This fact should, at the very least, emphasize the need for proper precautions in drawing generalizations from any of the studies employing limited data, including the investigation reported here. The research operation providing the data for this report was essentially a demonstration project conducted for and by a sociology class composed largely of advanced undergraduate students majoring in education at the University of Kentucky in the fall semester of 1956. The implementation of the project was made possible through the co-operation of the principal and staff of a large county junior high school in the Blue Grass region of Kentucky, who assisted in the planning of the research and in the selection of students as subjects.

Terms in A Word-List from Virginia and North Carolina (PADS 6) Common in the Blue Grass Region of Kentucky

Terms in <i>A Word-List from Virginia and North Carolina</i> (<i>PADS</i> 6) Common in the Blue Grass Region of Kentucky

Clinical manifestations of arteriosclerotic disease: Evans, G.: Practitioner 153: 129, 1944

The potential of biosolid colloids to transport metals associated with organic-waste amendments through subsurface soil environments was investigated with leaching experiments involving undisturbed soil monoliths. The monoliths (25 cm in height and 18 cm in diameter) were carved from the upper solum of an Alfisol, a Mollisol, and an Entisol in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky. Biosolid colloids were fractionated from two municipal wastes (lime-stabilized/LSB, and aerobically-digested/ADB), and a poultry-manure (PMB) organic waste and applied onto the monoliths at a rate of ∼0.7 cm/h. Eluents were monitored for soluble and sorbed Cd, Cr, and Mo concentrations over 16–24 pore volumes of leaching. Colloid-free solutions with metal concentrations similar to those of the biosolid colloids were used as controls. The results indicated significantly (P<0.05) higher (up to 4 orders of magnitude) cationic and anionic metal elutions in association with the biosolid colloids in both, total and soluble fractions, over the control treatments. The elution of significant soluble metal loads in association with the biosolid colloids is attributed to increasing organic-metal complexation and exclusion processes, and emphasizes their importance as contaminant carriers and facilitators. Eluted metal loads varied with metal, colloid, and soil type, following the sequences Mo>Cd>Cr for the metals, and ADB>PMB>LSB (Cd and Cr) or ADB>LSB>PMB (Mo) for the colloids. Metal elution was generally enhanced by soil macroporosity and increasing OM content, while pH and Fe-Al oxides had significant, but opposite effects for the elution of cationic and anionic metal forms. Colloid and metal breakthrough curves were correlated well, being mostly asymmetrical with several maxima and minima caused by multiple clogging and flushing cycles. Soil- and colloid-metal sorption affinities were not reliable predictors of metal attenuation/elution loads, underscoring the dynamic nature of transport processes. The findings demonstrate the important role of biosolid colloids as contaminant carriers and the significant risk they pose, if unaccounted, for soil and ground water contamination in areas receiving heavy applications of biosolid waste amendments.

The Level of Exchangeable Potassium in Soils under Burley Tobacco in the Central Bluegrass Region and Its Relation to the Growth of the Crop

The Level of Exchangeable Potassium in Soils under Burley Tobacco in the Central Bluegrass Region and Its Relation to the Growth of the Crop

Agricultural Land in Proportion to Agricultural Population in the United States

IN the agricultural geography of any area two sets of factors are of basic importance: on the one hand, the extent and productivity of the cultivable on the other, the agricultural population. These factors have been measured and mapped in detail for the United States in many different ways, notably on the dot maps published by the United States Department of Agriculture. Such maps, however, tell us little of the relation between the two sets of factors, and it is precisely this relation that is of greatest importance. If the density of farm population varied directly with the productivity of the land, that is, if farms were commonly small in fertile areas and large in poorer areas, we could recognize a principle of compensation as a result of which the fundamental basis of rural economy was more or less equivalent throughout any country. Actually the facts in many cases are just the reverse. For example, the farms in the Kentucky mountains are smaller, not only in extent of land but even in total extent, than those in the Bluegrass region of the same state, and the largest farms in the maturely agricultural areas of the United States are found in the heart of the Corn Belt, in districts of highest crop yields per acre. In order to study this situation for the whole country, and particularly to suggest a basis for more detailed studies of individual areas, the maps here presented were prepared from the county statistics of agriculture of the United States census of I930 (Figs. I, 3, 4). They depict three different attributes of the agricultural land, in each case in proportion to the rural farm population (as distinct from the total rural population). They provide a rough picture of the fundamental situation, namely the amount and productivity of agricultural land per unit of agricultural population in the different regions and districts of the country. No one of the maps alone is adequate, nor indeed are all three together entirely adequate, because of a number of irrelevant factors, as well as inaccuracies, in the basic figures. All three of the maps are affected by the fact that the statistics of farm population take no account of families supported only in part by farming and in part by other activities, notably in mining and urbanized districts. The most reliable of the maps is probably the one showing the ratio of land to farm population. Arable land is the total of cultivated land and cultivable pasture in the census. This ratio, however, takes no account of the differences in productivity within the category of arable land; the very high figures in the Great Plains areas represent large farms on land of very low productivity. On the other hand, there is no allowance for the use of noncultivable land, an important factor in the productivity of the land in the dairy areas of the North and all the mountain areas. The ratio of the value of farmland (not including buildings) to farm population would perhaps be the most significant of the three ratios used if the figures could be taken as entirely reliable, which is hardly the case. Least reliable, perhaps, are the figures for values of products, since these are based in large part on estimates of products consumed on the farm, of which neither the amounts nor the values can be accurately determined. In both of these cases of ratios based on values the figures vary greatly from year

Natural Gas in Western Kentucky. Willard Rouse JillsonOil and Gas in Western Kentucky. Willard Rouse JillsonOil and Gas in the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky. Willard Rouse Jillson

Previous articleNext article No AccessReviewsNatural Gas in Western Kentucky. Willard Rouse Jillson Oil and Gas in Western Kentucky. Willard Rouse Jillson Oil and Gas in the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky. Willard Rouse Jillson H. W. Straley IIIH. W. Straley III Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Geology Volume 42, Number 6Aug. - Sep., 1934 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/624231 PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Andrew Jackson's Hermitage: The Story of a Home in the Tennessee Blue-Grass Region, Which, from Pioneer Log Cabin to Ante-bellum Mansion, Furnished the Background of "Old Hickery's" Dramatic and Colorful Career

Journal Article Andrew Jackson's Hermitage: The Story of a Home in the Tennessee Blue-Grass Region, Which, from Pioneer Log Cabin to Ante-bellum Mansion, Furnished the Background of “Old Hickery's” Dramatic and Colorful Career. By Mary French Caldwell. Get access Lillian Estelle Fisher Lillian Estelle Fisher Oklahoma College for Women Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 21, Issue 1, June 1934, Pages 124–125, https://doi.org/10.2307/1896446 Published: 01 June 1934

Winter Versus Summer Feeding of Corn to Two-year-old Steers, Finished on Grass

During the past fifty years it has been the usual practice in the fattening of two-year-old steers in the Blue Grass Region of Kentucky to feed them grain during the winter and finish them on grass the following summer without grain. It was to determine whether it is not more profitable to carry cattle largely on roughage during the winter and then finish them with grain on grass that the Kentucky Experiment Station ran a three-year test, along this line, beginning the fall of 1926 and ending the summer of 1929. In other words, it was the purpose of the experiment to find out whether winter or summer is the better time to feed grain to two-year-old steers being finished for the market. Twenty native steers of good quality purchased locally were divided into two lots of ten each of equal quality and weight. At the beginning and end of the experiment, the steers were weighed on three successive days and the average of the three weights was taken for the beginning and ending weights.

The Geography of the Mississippi Valley

fertility in the soil. The region he had seen was a part of the now well-known Blue Grass Region-a basin rich in agricultural development. But the Blue Grass Region, although one of the richest, is only a speck in that larger area of high fertility and gentle topography which reaches from the Alleghanies to the Rockies and is for the most part contained in the Mississippi Valley. The Great Mississippi River and more than fifty navigable tributaries furnish about 14,000 miles of waterways and border or traverse twentyseven states whose combined area is 1,935,952 square miles (65 per cent of U. S.). Of these twenty-seven states, seventeen are entirely or very largely within the Mississippi Drainage System. The importance of this great inland empire is unappreciated by most, only partly recognized by a considerable number and fully known to but few. Here is one of the best farming regions of the world, and when it was opened to the growth of the cereals New England and much of other Eastern areas went down and out. In this area of the Mississippi Valley a little over half of the people of the United States live. Here is 65 per cent of the improved land of the nation.

The Blue Grass Region of Kentucky

The Blue Grass Region of Kentucky