Crop Report for the Month of July, 1898. 



Office of State Board of Agriculture, 

 Boston, Mass., Aug. 1, 1898. 



Bulletin No. 3, Crop Report for the month of July, is 

 herewith presented. Special attention is called to the article 

 on " Catch-crops," by Wm. P. Brooks, Ph.D., professor of 

 agriculture at the Massachusetts Agricultural College, which 

 is printed at the close of this bulletin. It is thought that 

 this article will prove to be particularly timely to the season. 



Progress of the Season. 



The July returns of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture (Crop Circular for July, 1898) state that the 

 preliminary returns on the acreage of corn indicate a reduc- 

 tion* of 3 per cent from the area harvested last year. The 

 average condition, 90.5, although 7.6 points higher than the 

 condition at the corresponding date last year, is 1.7 points 

 below the July average for the past twelve years and is one 

 of the four lowest averages in that period. 



The condition of winter wheat, 85.7, is 5.1 points lower 

 than last month, but it is still 4.5 points higher than at the 

 corresponding date last year and 4.3 points higher than the 

 July average for the past ten years. The average condition 

 of spring wheat is 95, which is 5.9 points lower than last 

 month, but is 3.8 points higher than the corresponding date 

 last year, is 6.2 above the average for the past ten years, 

 and is the highest July average, with two exceptions, in 

 thirteen years. The average condition of spring and winter 

 wheat combined is 89.4, which is 4.5 points higher than at 

 the corresponding date last year and 6 points higher than on 

 July 1, 1896. 



The average condition of oats, 92.8, is 5.2 points lower 

 than last month, but it is 4.9 points higher than the July 



