150 



the crop secnre against all probable contingencies excepting rnst. In 

 California a large breadth bas been seeded. Prompt germination and 

 yigorous growth have followed the winter-rains. The early-sown area is 

 probably secnre, but drying winds and the absence of the latter rains 

 excite apprehensions of failure of late plantings. The States in the val- 

 leys of the Ohio and Missouri report inferior condition of wheat, as a 

 result of winter-killing. Those sections in wiiich drought preyented 

 early seeding and sufticient root-development before winter set in, have 

 suflered most. The protection afforded by snow has been exceedingly 

 valuable in all the area north of the thirty-ninth parallel of latitude, the 

 injuries sustained resulting mainly from thawing and subsequent freezing 

 in March. In the Middle States this protection has been more uniform 

 than in the West. The more exposed fields present a brown and lifeless 

 appearance, but the roots are found to be sound, except in patches cov- 

 ered long with ice. Everywhere the superiority of wheat seeded with 

 the drill, and the great advantage of this mode over broadcasting, are 

 conspicuously apparent. 



The winter-wheat of Xew England is a scarcely appreciable quantity. 

 Tiie covering of snow has been deep, and on the coming of April a depth 

 of one to three feet lay upon the few fields sown, from Connecticut to 

 Maine. 



In two-thirds of the wheat-growing counties of New York a medium 

 condition of winter-grain, so far as freed from the trammels of snow and 

 frost, is indicated ; of the remainder, there are two making reports of 

 inferiority to every one showing superior condition. Some damage by 

 freezing in Monroe has been done in spots where water has stood on the 

 frozen surface. Genesee is one in which the prospect is poor, the ground 

 being frozen in places four feet deep, and winter- killing has been severe 

 in Chautauqua, Madison, and Schenectady. The fall growth in Onon- 

 daga was not so good as usual, and oidy moderate expectations are 

 aroused by spring condition. A disposition is manifested to wait ■and 

 see what April will do for the crop. In Washington 115 inches of snow 

 in the aggregate are reported. The covering of snow has prevented the 

 almost total destruction of the crop of the State. 



Wheat in 2few Jersey presents an appearance of somewhat less than 

 average promise. In Warren County a good covering of snow has made 

 the prospect in April as good as in December last. In Burlington dry 

 weather in autumn delayed germination and left; the i^lants in poor con- 

 dition to withstand the severity of winter. Salem and other southern 

 counties make unfavorable returns. A similar state of the crop exists 

 in Delaware. 



A fair condition, so far as could be judged, where frosts had disap- 

 peared, is returned from twenty-five counties in Pennsylvania, and fully 

 lialf the remainder report higher than average. An uninterrupted 

 blanketing of snow has generally warded off the effects of severe cold. 

 There have been eighty-five consecutive days of sleighing in Franklin. 

 On the southern slopes of knolls, where the snow has melted, plants 

 are partially destroyed by freezing. In a considerable area of the wheat- 

 breadth the plants are brown, in some instances apparently lifeless, but 

 the roots are mostly alive and comparatively vigorous. The drilled 

 Avlieat looks well in counties in which broadcast sowing has been iol- 

 lowed by winter-killing. The fresh lands are far greener than the old 

 fields, and the soil in best condition in the autumn, bears noAV a more 

 l)romising burden than the areas badly cultivated. 



There has been a positive injury to wheat, by the severity of the 

 winter, in Maryland. Few counties can claim average condition. A 



