REVIEW OF THE SEASON. 3 



The remaining time of the session was devoted to the devising of 

 means and methods by which the work of the Board should be made 

 in Ihe Uigliest degree iiscru! in disseminating a knowledge of the 

 best practices and encouraging the introduction of the best methods 

 without which the agriculture of oui- State cannot maintain that 

 im[)ortance nor experience that prosi)erity which so largely con- 

 tribute to the welfare of the State at large. 



IIevikw ok TiiK Skason. 



The spring was unusually backward. Cold weather lingered late. 

 All through tlie northerly half of the State snow remained to cover 

 the ground till late in April, and in the extreme north till several 

 days into May. Vegetation of all descriptions was correspondingly 

 late. Farm work, delayed b}- the lateness of the season, was still 

 further delayed liy heavy and repeated rains the last half of May. 

 The first of June found a wide breadth still unseeded. The plant- 

 ing of corn and potatoes was kept up till the twelfth of the month. 

 Some lands even at this late date were still too wet to work, and the 

 sowing of barley and the planting of beans was continued till the 

 twentieth. IMuch land designed for corn was planted in beans, and 

 the breadth devoted to this crop was correspondingly increased over 

 former years. 



The heavy rains of May were followed by a season of drought in 

 July and August. In the southerly' part of the State embracing the 

 territory soutli of a line running through Lewiston, Augusta and 

 Bangor, the drought was of great severity, and a large area in corn, 

 potatoes, and vegetables failed entirely of making a crop. North 

 of the line mentioned the drought was not so severe and good crops 

 were there harvested. 



The early pail; of the summer was unfavorable in the extreme for 

 the corn crop. Up to the first of August it was backward, but hot 

 weather following and holding late in autumn an average crop was 

 harvested save in the southern part of the State where the drought 

 cut it off. The sweet corn crop for canning, now taking the place 

 of the yellow corn in many localities, was unexpectedly heavy in 

 yield, being a full average crop, notwithstanding its unpromising 

 aspect the first of August. 



The area devoted to grass, being 'much more than that devoted to 

 all other crops combined, is not essentially varied b}- any slight 

 increase or falling ofl!" in the area devoted to an}- or all of the culti- 



