xiv BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



of corn grown for ensilage purposes increasing in your locality ? " 

 About ninety returns were received, from which we learned that 

 there would be about half a crop of winter apples, of rather poor 

 quality. On the whole, the acreage of meadow land reseeded in 

 the fall was reported as increasing. The wet weather of July and 

 the early part of this month caused potato vines to blast badly. 

 Rot quickly followed, and it was predicted that there would not be 

 over half a crop of potatoes. Those that were nearly ripe when 

 the blast struck them were good, and rotted but little. Those 

 planted late and only about half matured when the blast came 

 were almost a total failure. Many fields were not worth digging. 

 The warm, dry weather of the last two weeks had a tendency to 

 keep the rot from spreading. Scab has also been prevalent this 

 season. The amount of corn grown for ensilage purposes appeared 

 to be increasing in most localities. The Southern white variety 

 seemed to be the one most generally preferred. Celery rusted 

 badly in some sections. The corn crop promised to be a good one. 

 In some sections blight had struck the corn fields, and some of 

 them were reported as almost worthless. Corn cutting had com- 

 menced, although most of the crop needed fully a week of warm, 

 dry weather. The tobacco crop was in general a very good one, 

 and was harvested in excellent condition ; some damage was done 

 to the crop by rust and fleas. On land where the first crop of 

 grass was taken off early, the rowen crop was very large, and at 

 the close of the month much of it had been secured in excellent 

 shape. Pastures held out well. Fruits of all kinds were inferior 

 both in quantity and quality. 



In this report was included an extract from an address before 

 the Housatonic Agricultural Society, by Rev. F. H. Rowley of 

 North Adams. 



Synopsis of Bulletin No. 5. — Crop Report for September. 

 The weather was quite generally damp and cloudy, with fre- 

 quent light rains. The rainfall for the month was slightly below 

 the average. The first week was unusually warm, while the tem- 

 perature for the remainder of the month was about normal. Slight 

 frosts occurred during the last ten days of the month, in various 

 parts of the State, but scarcely any damage was done to crops. 

 In some sections, high winds, the 10th and 11th, blew off con- 

 siderable fruit. In the circular sent to correspondents about the 

 20th of the month, the following questions were asked : "1. Esti- 

 mated number of baskets of peaches grown in your vicinity this 

 season; average price per basket? 2. What is the outlook for 

 success in the future cultivation of the peach in your locality? 



