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a whole the wheat prospect at the close of winter is more favorable 
than at the same date in 1872. 
There are places in the New England States where a portion of the 
very limited wheat area of that section is preferably sown with some 
hardy winter variety. If the protection of snow is unfailing, the growth 
of such wheat will be vigorous the present spring, the surface gen- 
erally having been well covered in much of the northern belt from 2 to 5 
feet deep. In York, Maine, the ground was covered from November 21 
to April 1, when the tops of the stone walls began to appear. At the 
same date the snow was 5 feet on a level in Somerset, Maine, from 2 to 
4 in Sagadahoc, and nearly as much in other counties. Two to 3 feet 
of snow covered the ground in nearly all of New Hampshire; there was a 
covering of 5 feet in Orange, Vermont, and ample protection in all parts 
of the Green Mountain State. Bristol is the only county in Massa- 
chusetts which reports wheat as visible, and there the fields are green 
and growing. The prospect in Hartford County, Connecticut, was never 
better; “wheat,” in New London, ‘is better than for years,”, other 
counties reporting it as either not grown or covered with snow. 
In New York there was much snow on the ground on the 1st of April. 
In Otsego County there had been one hundred and twenty consecutive days. 
of sleighing; in Washington the surface had not been visible since the last 
of November; in Warren wheat was covered with 3 feet ofsnow ; 2 feet 
were reported in Oneida; in Greene a covering of snow remained after 
December 15; and the wheat-fields were covered in Rensselaer, Suffolk, 
Montgomery, Chenango, Livingston, Jefferson, Delaware, Genesee, and 
other counties. The crop “looks remarkably well” in Sullivan; ‘ fine” 
in Rockland; makes a good appearance in Albany and Tioga; is 25 per 
cent. better than last year in Yates, and in Seneca the plants are “small 
but healthy,” and coming into fair condition. In Chautauqua it was 
quite badly frozen; in Erie a dry fall and severe winter leave the crop 
in an unfavorable condition; in Cattaraugus below average, and it is 
reported below average in Chemung, though the plants appear to pos- 
sess vitality which promises vigorous growth in good weather. In 
Onondaga wheat “is not looking yery fresh,” the top being touched 
with frost, though it stands well, and the roots are alive ; in Monroe the 
appearance is not an average. Anaverage prospect appears in Niagara, 
Albany, Kings, Dutchess, and other counties, and little apprehension 
is expressed of the crop in the many localities covered with snow, though 
the weather of April may make a material change in the crop prospect. 
Reports are received from two-thirds of the counties in New Jersey, 
all of which are favorable, with the exception of those from Salem and 
- Cumberland, where evidences of the winter’s severity are visible. The 
prospect is better than for three years in Sussex; in Cape May the early- 
sown fields look particularly green; in Warren a fine stand and vigor- 
ous growth are seen; Bergen makes a better show than usual, and other 
counties report average condition. 
In many of the counties of Pennsylvania the ground was yet covered 
with snow; an aggregate snow-fall of 84 feet is reported in Wayne; in 
Elk snow was 7 to 8 feet deep in situations, and there were drifts 12 
feet deep. Very few reports indicate unfavorable condition, including 
those of Armstrong and Westmoreland; in Indiana the plants were 
“thrown out” to some extent by frosts; and in Fulton the early-sown 
fields were somewhat injured by the fly. In Adams the prospect is 
“better than for some years;” the crops “remarkably fresh and vigor- 
ous” in York; “condition seldom better” in Pike; “very promising” in 
Cumberland; in Northumberland so luxurious in the autumn that it was 
