331 



The following- is a classification of the September returns of corn : 



COTTOK 



The county reportsof the condition of cotton are less favorable in Sep- 

 tember than were the returns made in the earlier part of the season. Vigor- 

 ous growth, stimulated by fertilizers and sufiicient moisture, characterized 

 the fields of the Atlantic States up to the season of the first picking, and 

 gave promise of unusual fruitfulness. The plants were in many fields too 

 stocky and succulent to withstand well the recent local droughts or to 

 endure the draughts upon vitality consequent upon the maturing of their 

 heavy burden of bolls, causing forms to drop and young bolls to wither. 

 In exposed bottom lands, where sudden and heavy rains occurred, 

 damage by flooding resulted. While a few reports allude to the pres- 

 ence of insects injurious to cotton, losses from that cause, in all the 

 States east and north of Alabama, are less than usual. 



Local droughts of considerable severity have prevailed for several 



