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New England. — In the northern part of New England, on the first of 

 April, the winter grain was lying under two feet of snow; another month 

 will better determine how it endures the vicissitudes of early spring. 

 The winter, to that date, had been generally favorable, moderate, and 

 uniform in temi^eratui^e. In Sagadahoc County, Maine, it was deemed 

 a hard winter for wheat and rye, the protection not being sufficient. In 

 Rockingham, New Hampshire, where the snow had disappeared, the 

 fields were green and promising. In the northern counties of this Stat«, 

 where fall-sowmg is scarcely practiced at all, wheat and rye, so far as 

 can be judged, are in excellent condition. The same remark is generally 

 true of Vermont and the southern i)ortion of New England. In only 

 one of the counties of Vermont, Windsor, fears are expressed of injury 

 from icy and insufficient covering of the tender plants. In one county 

 of Connecticut, New Haven, it is understood that some loss had occurred 

 from the open winter; in Tolland the condition of wheat and rye is 

 deemed decidedly better than last year. It should be remembered that 

 these remarks refer to a small area, as New England produces but a 

 small quantity of cereals, and mostly spring grain. 



Neic Yorlc. — In more than half the counties a favorable view is taken 

 of the i^rospect for a crop. In Sufiblk, Alleghany, Schuyler, and Cat- 

 taraugus the fields are below an average in condition; ''backward" in 

 Queens; an "unfavorable winter" in Oneida; "winter-killed" in Chau- 

 tauqua; " suffered for want of snow " in Westchester; " injured by freez- 

 ing and thawing" in Genesee; injured in Monroe; an average condition 

 is reported in Dutchess; in Ulster, Eockland, and Steuben it is in " good" 

 condition; "as good as can be" in Rensselaer; "looked well last fall and 

 winter favorable" in Jefferson; "looks well" in Onondaga; "very well" 

 in Kings ; and rei^orts of varying tenor come likewise from other counties. 

 It is reported from Columbia that one-sixth of all the tilled land is in rye. 



Neic Jersey. — More than half of the rei^orts from this State are favor- 

 able. It was dry during seeding time ; cold weather came early, and 

 the winter was changeable, but the extremes of temperature have not 

 been very great, nor the winter-killing either general or disastrously' 

 severe. In Union winter grain has been killed to some extent ; in Morris 

 and in Sussex injury occurred from freezing and thawing; in Camden 

 and in Salem its condition is below an average ; in Hunterdon the 

 drought in the fall, and changeable weather since, have produced some 

 injury ; an average condition is reported in Essex, Atlantic, and in Bur- 

 lington ; wheat is a good stand in Bergen, Gloucester, and in Cape May, 

 particularly if early sown ; it looks well in Mercer, "but thin owing to 

 drought ;" and equally well in Warren. On the wiiole, circumstances 

 have favored the somewhat unpropitious start in the fall, as the early 

 winter was moderate and favorable, and when freezing and thawing 

 weather came, in the latter part of the season, the surface was generally 

 weU protected by snow. Toward the coast, as in Ocean County, this 

 protection was not sufficient ; neither winter wheat nor rye looks as well 

 as it did six weeks ago. "The spring has been cold and backward; the 

 young blades are shriveled and jagged. They need the reviving influ- 

 ence of warm, pleasant days and sunshine to change the aspect of our 

 winter-grain fields." 



Pennsylvania. — In more than half the counties reported the condition 

 of wheat and rye is placed below the average, not so much from winter- 

 killing as from late germination and unfavorable conditions for growth 

 before winter set in. Injury from freezing and thawing is reported in 

 Chester, Dauphin, Adams, York, Greene, McKean, and Warren ; in the 

 latter county, the necessity for draining as a means of exemption from 



