322 
In Mississippi 31 counties make the average condition 83, 8 being 100, 
2 above, Newton 150, and Hinds 105; and 21 below, the lowest being 
Marion, 58, and Jefferson, Claiborne, and Pike, 60; the others ranging 
from 75 upward. Newton reports, ‘“‘the very high condition is not too 
high for the facts; we have had a vast deal of rain, and farmers are to 
some extent in the grass, but are working out.” The extremes of con- 
dition, as affected by labor or the lack of it, are stated in the returns 
from Neshoba and Noxubee: in the former, “‘ where it has been well 
worked, looking very well;” in the latter, “‘much in the grass; one- © 
fourth of the crop must be turned out.” 
Yalabusha: Very grassy ; a good deal being turned out, planters finding it impossible 
to work it. Prospect rather gloomy. Kemper: In the grass, and 4 considerable share 
of what is planted will have to be turned out. Continuous rains all through May and 
June. Panola: Very late and grassy ; poorest prospect for twenty-five years. Lowndes: 
Lowlands drowned out, and highlands very much injured by rain; crop at least a 
third below average condition. Wilkinson: Daily rains since May 12 have very seri- 
ously damaged cotton; full of grass and weeds. Caterpillar reported in several parts 
of the county. Claiborne: Suffering from excessive rains. Madison: At least one- 
fourth of the crop in the bottom-lands has been abandoned in order to save the remain- 
der. Jefferson: Stalk, where well cultivated, larger than at the same period last year 
—more sap and less fruit. Holmes: Backward. Continued rains have kept the crop 
in the grass, and many planters have not yet finished hoeing it out the first time. 
Warren: Owing to frequent rains in June many of the fields are grassy. The plant 
has grown rapidly, but the number of forms is not in proportion te size. Pike: The 
continued rains have put the fields so in the grass that the prospect is very gloomy ; 
it is impossible to get the fields in a condition to make a good crop. Amite: Above 
average in acreage and condition; having too much rain. Jasper: Since May it has 
rained more or less almost every day, consequently the grass and weeds have outgrown . 
the cotton, which is almost covered with foulness. It is said that the cotton-worm is on , 
many plantations inthe county. Marion: The crop has suffered immensely from rain; 
not more than three days have elapsed for the last six weeks without it. The cotton- 
worm has made its appearance in great numbers; all anticipate the destruction of the 
crop by the last of July. Grenada: Cotton worked out up to this time has a fair aver- 
age prospect; but an unusual amount of it is still in the grass and unworked for the 
first time. Lee: More planted than ever since the war, but the worst prospect ever 
seen; not a bloom seen yet. Causes, late planting and too much rain. Some crops 
not yet worked over for the first time. Smith: Prospect not favorable on account of 
incessant wet weather. Bolivar: Prospect very poor, though better than two weeks 
ago. There are a few not yet through hoeing over the first time, owing to the wet 
weather. Clark: The great amount of rain in May and June has caused many plant- 
ers to lose a considerable amount of the cotton planted—at the lowest estimate, 15 per 
cent. Some have plowed up what they could not work out and planted corn. Lafay- 
ette; Looks well, but ewing to continued rains is in many plantations very grassy ; 
some has been abandoned. Yazoo: Having all the time too much rain for cotton. 
Winston: Has rained almost every day since the Ist of June; many farmers.are not 
able to work out their cotton in the bottoms, and have given up a-part as lost in the 
grass. Tishomingo: Rain every day in June but four. Cotton in the grass; lowlands 
given up; will perhaps be something over half acrop. Tunica: Heavy rains through- 
out June have damaged the prospects of cotton; the farmers have struggled hard, but 
in some instances have lost a part of the crop in the grass. 
In Louisiana three parishes. report a condition above average; 
Winn, 105; Richland and Union, 110; and in the latter “the prospect 
of a large crop better than in any year since the close of the war.” 
Tensas returns average, and the others reporting, below; the lowest being 
Cameron and East Baton Rouge, 50; and Carroll, Rapides, Red River, 
Claiborne, and Avoyelles, 75. In East Baton Rouge “a great deat will 
have to be abandoned entirely, being drowned out by the rains and 
Overcome with the grass.” The report from Iberia (60) concludes: 
““Have now had eight days without rain, and planters are working vig- 
orously to relieve their crops from weeds and grass.” The caterpillar 
is reported on several plantations in West Feliciana, and worms have 
made their appearance in Concordia and Cameron. In Red River 
though the condition is placed at 75, the crop “is looking remarkably 
