10 



The Season. 



The season opened later than usual in most sections. 

 The warm weather of the latter part of April operated to 

 bring it nearly up to the normal, but the cold, dry weather 

 of May more than offset this, and at time of making returns 

 the season was apparently from one to two weeks behind the 

 normal. The cold nights held vegetation in check and the 

 dry weather has been most unfavorable to the germination 

 of seeds. Rain was badly needed in almost all sections of 

 the State at the time of going to press, and unless the condi- 

 tion of drought is soon relieved many crops must suffer 

 severely. 



Pastures and Mowings. 



Mowings are reported to be suffering from want of rain 

 in many sections, and the prospect now is that the hay crop 

 will be less than a normal one. Feed in pastures is also 

 spoken of in many instances as thin and backward and rain 

 is much needed. In view of these conditions we wish to 

 impress on our readers the desirability of putting in an 

 increased acreage of forage crops for green feeding and for 

 the silo. Not for many years has there been as much com- 

 plaint of pastures and mowings winter-killing as this season, 

 though these complaints are by no means general. There 

 was also more complaint of fall seeding winter-killing than 

 usual, though here, also, the complaint is not general. 



The Fruit Bloom. 



• The fruit bloom as a whole was much below the normal 

 in all sections, with the exception of the southeastern por- 

 tion of the State, where it was generally reported as a full 

 bloom. Elsewhere in the State, apples were rather below 

 the usual bloom judging from the reports. Pears and plums 

 appear to have blossomed fairly well, though hardly up to 

 the average. Cherry trees generally blossomed full. There 

 was practically speaking no peach bloom, and there were 

 also many complaints of peach trees having been killed by 

 the severe winter weather. Small fruits and berries, where 



