358 Ninth Annual Report of the 



The first week of April was bright and warm, but with frosty 

 nights. Plowing was well begun in warmer sections, and the 

 season was deemed to be two weeks in advance. The weather 

 was excellent for gathering maple sugar, and while the sugar 

 season was rather short — being practically finished by the 10th — 

 the product was exceptionally good. General snows on the 9th 

 delayed farming operations, but proved beneficial to grass and 

 grains. Excepting the 17th and 18th the second decade of April 

 was cold and wet; grass and grains received a set back in growth, 

 but otherwise continued in good condition. Oats seeding — a little 

 of which had been done — and plowing progressed slowly. A few 

 potatoes had been planted by the 10th, and gardening had begun 

 in the warmer sections of the southeast. Fruit bud& were develop- 

 ing too rapidly for the season, and received a timely check during 

 the cold spell of the 17th-21st. The cold wave of the 19th, 20th 

 and 21st was accompanied by sleet and snow, and ice two inches 

 thick formed in exposed localities of the north. Little damage 

 to crops was apprehended, excepting to peaches, and to early 

 gardens on Long Island. Midsummer temperatures followed, and 

 as the soil was in good condition plowing and seeding progressed 

 rapidly. Much tobacco was seeded by the 20th, and hop poles 

 generally were set. Another cold wave on the 26th-27th was 

 accompanied by snow to the depth of two inches in the north. 

 Before this cold wave vegetation was slightly in advance, but 

 afterwards was deemed about normal. Fruit was thought to be 

 injured by the frost of the 27th, and in Orange county early 

 potatoes suffered, and accompanying high winds greatly damaged 

 the young onion beds. At the close of the month a large per- 

 centage of the oats was sown, and some barley; and plowing for 

 corn, planting potatoes and making gardens was well under way. 



