11 



FRUIT CROPS. 



The preceding tables exhibit the general condition of the fruit and grain 

 crops on the first of June. As was to have been expected from the character 

 of the winter, this condition presents two general differences — in the east all 

 crops promise abundantly, but in the west the fruits and fell-sown grain crops 

 have been much injured by the intense severity of the cold at the ch)se of the 

 year 1863 and the cold of February, when there was but little snow on the 

 ground, in nearly all localities. We will briefly notice each of the crops re- 

 ferred to in the tables. 



Apples. — In the eastern and middle States the crop will be a good one, but 

 still there are localities where the wet weather caused the fruit to fall off. In 

 the west a general complaint is made by our correspondents of this falling off; 

 and although the amount of the bloom indicates sufficient for an excellent crop, 

 yet an injury which destroys a fourth of the fruit buds so as to prevent their 

 blooming is usually fatal to the setting of the rest. 



Peaches. — This crop is in good condition in the eastern States; in the western 

 it is destroyed, with a large number of the trees, mostly the old ones. Canning 

 peaches may therefore be looked upon as profitable to those having them during 

 the next fall. 



Fears. — The pear has not yet reached a point in its cultivation when it may 

 be regarded as a general market crop, but its hardiness has recommended it to 

 every section of the country, and it is rapidly becoming more than a simple 

 garden product. Like all other fruit crops, it is good iu the east; in the west 

 severely injured. 



Grapes. — The column asking which variety was most injured, and which the 

 least, has been left blank, for the answers require a more careful arrangement 

 than could be shown in the table. The returns connect themselves with many 

 letters accompanying them ; hence they will not be given until in our next 

 report. 



Maple sugar and jnolasses. — It is gratifying to see the great increase in this 

 manufacture. It will serve to keep down prices of the imported, as well as the 

 amount of their importation. Should the crop of sorghum be favored with a 

 good season, the country will supply its own wants and those of the smaller 

 towns. The quality of the maple sugar is spoken of as good. 



GRAIN CROPS. 



Wi?iter icheut. — The figures in all the tables do not directly express the 

 amount of the injuries. Thus, 8 denotes an injury of two-tcntlis, and not eight- 

 tenths, for the starting point in all estimates of an increase or decrease is at 10 ; 

 thus, 11 means an increase of one-tenth, and 9 a decrease of one-tenth. 



It will be seen that the winter wheat is in general good condition in the 

 eastern States, but in New Y(n-k it is frozen out three-tenths, or thirty per cent., 

 in Pennsylvania three and a half tenths, in Maryland two and one-third tenths, 

 iu Kentucky and Ohio four-tenths, and iu the rest of the western States from 

 three to three and a half tenths. This will lessen the wheat crop at least thirty 

 per cent, from the yield of last year. 



The general growing eondition is good; in some northern localities drought 

 prevails, which reduces it below a general average in several of the States. 



Drill and broadcast sowing. — There is a marked difference in the loss by 

 freezing between the drilled and broadcast sown. The c luse of the injury 

 varied in different localities; in many it was by upheaval, iu others the roots 

 were killed by exposure to intense cold without any protection, and in others 

 by being covered Avith water, which froze so intensely as to destroy the roots of 



