184 



Snmj Couvty, Va. — Much larj^er area sown to oats than in any previous year since 

 the war. Condition quite good, considering the hasty manner in which it was put in. 



Camden Counfi/, N. C. — Oats are looking well, but will be injured by rust. 



Union County, X. C. — Eust on the oats, and insect iu the roots. 



Richland Counfi/, S. C. — More than usual attention has been given to the oat crop, 

 wbich, though slightly affected by rust, promises an abundant yield. 



Leon County, Fla. — Oats (except the "rust-proof" variety) have rusted to a greater 

 or less extent. 



Jackson County, Fla. — Crop was much increased in acreage this year, and hopes were 

 entertained that it would form an entering-wedge to a system of rotation and diver- 

 sity of crops. An oat called '^ anti-rust" doea well and perfects its seed annually; 

 from experience and repeated trials, no other will perfect its seed with us. Why is it? 

 It is very difficult to determine, from the fact when sown alongside of each other no 

 difference is perceptible until, about the panicle, the one withers, losing vitality, and 

 yields nothing; the other perfects its see<l and yields abundantly, season propitious. 

 To sow in the fall has no influence. Some farmers are of the opinion that the " anti- 

 rust" grows more rapidly and comes to seed much earlier, escaping the blithing effects 

 of the May sun and heat. It is a fact, however, that both may be sown on the same 

 piece of land, either separately or mixed, in all respects the same ; at the stated time 

 the " anti-rust " will stand and the other fall. 



FEUITS. 



Every Kseason is rei^lete with casualties to fruits, by frosts, hail and 

 rain storms, and insects ; but certain sections are much more exposed 

 to risk of failure than others. So necessary in filling the complement 

 of home supplies are these products that each farmer should secure 

 some of them, even with a certainty of a constant partial failure of his 

 crops. There are valleys in which spring frosts are inevitable, and 

 thermal belts scarcely ever touched by early spring or autumn frosts; 

 there are wide districts in which fruits are very uncertain and capri- 

 cious in yield, and large tracts wholly or partially enveloped by water, 

 as the eastern shore of the Delaware, the islands of Lake Erie, the 

 western counties of New York, and the peninsula of Michigan. These 

 districts, with those affected by the Gulf Stream on the Atlantic coast 

 and those favored by the mild climate and favorable aspect of hill 

 slopes in Southern Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas, constitute the main 

 reliance of city populations for native fruit supplies. 



A good supply of fruit will be gathered during the present season. 

 The peach crop of New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland is above an 

 average, and larger than that of last year. It is also very large in most 

 of the Southern States, and ample in all of them. It is a fair average 

 in Michigan. In most of the Western States the crop will be short, on 

 account of the severe frosts of April, varying from one-half to three- 

 fourths of an average. Less exj^osed situations — the slopes or summits 

 of elevations — will furnish a large percentage of the product. Califor- 

 nia reports a moderate degree of abundance, with a better prospect for 

 apples and pears than for peaches. Texas has an abundance of the 

 fruits of that climate. The valley of the Missouri, including the State 

 of Iowa, gives assurance of nearly an average crop. 



Tlie prospect for. apples and pears appears to be best in the New 

 England States, Ohio, Michigan, and Missouri ; a little below an aver- 

 age in the Middle States, with a considerable further reduction in the 

 West. The reports, as a whole, indicate a comparatively small crop of 

 these fruits. 



Small fruits have been produced in moderate abundance; but the 

 supply has been quite generally reduced by dry weather. 



Insects are swarming almost everywhere this year and reducing the 

 quantity and value of all kinds of fruits. Their ravages are referred 

 to in detail in another section of this report. 



