Crop Report for the Month of May, 1899. 



Office of State Board of Agriculture, 

 Boston, Mass., June 1, 1899. 



We present herewith Bulletin No. 1, Crop Report for the 

 month of May, the first of our series of monthly crop bul- 

 letins for the present season. The general plan followed in 

 the issuance of these bulletins will not vary greatly from 

 that pursued in former years. We shall, as last year, en- 

 deavor to place the bulletins in the hands of our readers 

 as near the close of the month as possible. An article by 

 some specialist of the Board, or some other equally well- 

 known scientist, will, as usual, be included in each issue. 

 This bulletin contains an article on "Spraying Crops for 

 Profit," by Prof. S. T. Maynard, pomologist of this Board, 

 which we would particularly commend to the attention of 

 our readers. 



Progress op the Season. 



The May returns of the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture (Crop Circular for May, 1899) show the acreage of 

 winter wheat, after the elimination of that believed to be 

 winter-killed, to be about 25,900,000 acres. This is about 

 4,000,000 acres, or 13.5 per cent, less than the area estimated 

 to have been sown last fall, but it still exceeds by about 

 160,000 acres, or six-tenths of 1 per cent, the area of winter 

 wheat harvested last year. For the area remaining under 

 cultivation the average condition is 76.2, as compared with 

 86.5 on May 1 of last year, 80.2 at the corresponding date 

 in 1897, and 85.9, the mean of the averages of the last ten 

 years. 



The average condition of winter rye is 85.2, as compared 

 with 84.9 a month ago, 94.5 on May 1 of last year, 88 at 



