10 



years. The crop was not in the best condition, owing to 

 cool weather. Haying had hardly begun in any section, and 

 a light crop was in prospect, despite the improvement follow- 

 ing the rains. Clover germinated poorly and winterkilled 

 badly. The acreage of early potatoes was decidedly decreased, 

 and the crop was somewhat backward. Early market-garden 

 crops suffered from drought, cold weather and cut worms, 

 and were generally light in yield and high in price. The 

 supply of dairy products was fully up to the demand, with 

 prices for milk lower than last year in the metropolitan 

 district. Where farmers had cows for sale the prices were 

 reported as low, while in eastern sections they were unani- 

 mously said to be higher than ever before. Pasturage suf- 

 fered from drought in May, but responded to the rains, and 

 was quite good at the close of the month. Strawberries were 

 a light crop, with good prices. Currants were light, but 

 raspberries and blackberries promised well. Apples indi- 

 cated a fair crop. Peaches promised a larger crop than for 

 some years. Cherries were generally an excellent crop. 

 Spraying is receiving more attention each year. 



In July there were few complaints of insect damage. The 

 hot weather brought corn forward rapidly, and in western 

 sections it was well up to the average, but suffered from 

 drought in central and eastern sections. The hay crop was 

 very light, of good quality, but with little clover. The pros- 

 pect for the second crop was poor, owing to drought and hot 

 weather. Forage crops germinated poorly and in some cases 

 were not sown to as great an extent as usual, owing to the 

 dry and baked condition of the ground. Market-garden crops 

 suffered severely from drought, and were short in almost all 

 cases, with prices correspondingly high; later crops looked 

 well, though needing rain. Early potatoes were a very light 

 crop, while the later ones looked well. There was an unusu- 

 ally heavy crop of fruit, apples especially. Pears promised 

 fairly well, also plums. Peaches seemed a better crop than 

 usual. Grapes promised a good yield. Cranberries felt the 

 effects of drought, and promised less than an average crop. 

 Pastures were in fairly good condition in western sections, 

 not so good in Worcester Coimty and very poor in eastern 



