10 BULLETIN No. 82. 



The average date of the first killing frost in the fall is October 20, 

 and of the last in the spring April 17. In general the tidewater por- 

 tions of the State are more free from severe frosts and have longer 

 growing seasons than inland portions, owing to the modifying influ- 

 ence on the climate of proximity to large bodies of water. The climate 

 of the whole State is particularly well adapted to an extremely rapid 

 growth of trees, as the growing seasons are uniformly of long duration, 

 and the atmospheric moisture conditions very favorable. 



FOREST STATISTICS. 



The census estimates that in 1900 there were 700 square miles of 

 the State wooded, or 36 per cent of its total area. This is much too 

 high an estimate, as by far the greater part of the State is cleared and 

 under cultivation. The census figures for 1900 on areas included in 

 farms, which constitute 85 per cent of the total area of the State, are 

 as follows : 



