60 KEPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OP AGRICULTURE. 



E"Ti;tian and eight-rowed corn. Only the early varieties of corn will mature in 

 Northern CalL^ornia. In tlie southern part of the State it makes a large and valua- 

 ble croo. Flax is grown for its seed; sometimes one and a quarter tons are produced 

 per acre". Barley known as the Coast Range variety is a profitable grain. 



Grasses and forage plants: Very few grasses are raised in Northern California. 

 Alfalfa is- grown along the river bottoms or in places that can be irrigated; it is 

 used in Eastern California for hay; it yields two cuttings a season on dry land. 



Timothy and red-top do well ou wet land, and yield from eight to ten tons of hay 

 per acre. In Central California white Chili wheat and wliite wild oats are sown for 

 forage. 



Vegetables : Vefjetables grow to perfection, and gardeners plant nearly every 

 month in the year in the southern section. The Lima bean is a valuable crop in the 

 south. 



CONNECTICUT. 



Grass and forage plants: Clover, timothy, red top, orchard grass, blue grass, 

 tall fescue, red and v.'hite clover, and alsike are the most profitable. 



Grain: Wheat, yellow Dent corn, barley, oats, and buckwheat are the principal 



grains. . . , ^^ . ., -,,^ /-, 



Spring plowing usually begins April 1 and gram sowmg about April 10. Corn 

 ripens in from 90 to 100 days from planting. 



Vegetables: Tlie melon trade is growing, particularly the small gTeen-fleshed 

 varieties of musk-melon. liackensack stands at the head. We plant tlie first week 

 in jMay. The leading vegetable in the southwest is the onion. There are growers 

 who p'lant twentv to thirty acres annually. The average yield is three hundred to 

 fom- hundred bushels per acre; the principal market for this product is New York 

 City. Carrots are raised in large quantities, more particularly for stock and horse 

 feeding. Pumpkins, largely gi'own for cattle and hog feeding; time for planting 

 about June 10. 



DAKOTA. 



Grasses and forage plants : Only wild grasses grown at present. Clover, alfalfa 

 and the hardier grasses would do well, as the winters, although extremely cold, are 

 not subject to thaw, which causes grasses to winter-kill. The country being new, 

 grasses have not been cultivated. Native grasses are preferable to any others; 

 their fattening qualities are greater than the native or tame grasses of Illinois or 

 Iowa. 



Grain: The varieties of spring wheat grown in South^Vestern Dakota have a world- 

 wide reputation for producing the best quality of flour. Sprmg varieties of wheat are 

 harvested 118 days from sowing. The early-sown grain produces a larger yield, and 

 a gi-eat effort is made to get seeding done by the 10th of April. In 1886 wheat 

 yielded from 9 to 20 bushels to the acre. Fall plowing is necessary for the best yield 

 for wheat. Scotch Fife is the favorite va,ri8ty. 



Our principal market crop is flax. Welcome oats is a favorite variety. Corn does 

 well planted any time from the last week in April to May 25. Rice-corn is a variety 

 that should be cultivated and improved by the settlers in Dakota. Barley does better 

 sown about the 20t}i of April. Amber cane does well, but has not been extensively 

 grown for lack of mills. 



Vegetables: Nearly all kinds of vegetables are of excellent quality and very pro- 

 lific. Some of the carrots are 2 feet long. Specimens of Early Rose potatoes 

 weighed 6 pounds. They average 175 bushels per acre. Sugar-beets, turnips, and 

 rutabagas are extensively raised for stock-feeding. The southern section seems 

 peculiarly adapted to root crops of all kinds. Tomatoes and melons rarely mature, 

 on account of frost. 



FLORIDA. 



Grasses and forage plants : On the Gulf border of Florida the yellow Millo maize 

 and Johnson grass have been reported by good farmers as excelling ail other forage 

 plants. Alfalfa is pre-eminent for hay, soiling, and green manuring. It does not 

 ne3d re-seeding. Bermuda grass is unexcelled for pasture, and once established is 

 permanent. However, tlie principal dependence is the wild native grasses. 



Grain : Oats acclimated here are far superior to any variety raised north. They 

 are planted as late as December. For pasturage, sowing begins in October. Rye 

 and barley are sown in October, and yield well, but the weevil cannot be kept from 

 the grain when it is matured. iMorthern rye will not gi'ow successfully here, as it 

 does not head out. 



