6 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



OCTOBER 



October continned warm and wet, a condilion that prevailed nearly 

 throughout the entire State, with a little frost here and there, so that 

 corn ripened naturally during part of this moutli, but the weather did 

 not atford favorable conditions for seeding wheat, that up to this 

 time had not been sowed. Not; only did the corn ripen, but the rains 

 and the warm weather prevailing for so extended a period caused the 

 growth of a second crop of grass, which was so luxuriant that, in 

 some places in late September and early October, a second crop of 

 hay was made, or such pasture was furnished that early Fall feeding 

 was not necessary and in this way many farmers were able to supply 

 the deficiency in the hay crop resulting from unfavorable conditions 

 in June and July. 



NOVEMBER. 



The month of November remained mild from a week to ten days 

 and more at a time in the southern and eastern sections of the State, 

 so that pasturing could be continued and outdoor work was possible. 

 The winter wheat was short on account of the late sowing, and had 

 it not been for the mild weather of October, November and December, 

 the prospects for a good wheat crop for 1912 would not have been as 

 promising as they now are. 



DECEMBER 



The month of December was extremely mild, and for warmth ex- 

 ceeded all records since 1891. The rainfall for the district exceeded, by 

 10.18 inches, the normal, and amounted to 51.35 inches, and was 

 exceeded only twice in forty years. This occurred regardless of the 

 fact that there was a deficiency of rainfall during the first seven 

 months of the year and all the excess fell after the middle of August 

 except in a few of the western sections of the State. 



This extended discussion of Aveather conditions of the year seemed 

 necessary and is given in order that the following crop estimates from 

 the United States Crop Reporter and those compiled from the census 

 of 1910 may be fully understood. 



PRINCIPAL FARM CROPS FOR 1911 



BARLEY 



Seven thousand acres were sown with barley in Pennsylvania in 

 1911, yielding, according to the Crop Reporter, 175,000 bushels, worth 

 December 1, |114,000.00. The census of 1910 gives an acreage of 7,625 

 acres for 1909 with a yield of 136,239 bushels, worth |91,000. There 

 has been little increase in the acreage of barley in this State for a 

 number of years, for which there seems little or no reason except that 

 possibly the value of the crop is not understood. This cereal should be 

 raised in the thinner soils of the southwestern section of the State, 

 especially when climatic conditions are such that oats cannot be sown 



