The average condition of spring rye is 93.7, which is 3.2 

 points below that of last month, but 3.9 points higher than 

 on Aug. 1, 1897, 5.7 points higher than on Aug. 1, 1896, 

 and 6.4 points above the August average of the last ten 

 years. Of the States of principal production, Iowa alone 

 falls below the average of a series of years. 



The preliminary returns regarding buckwheat indicate a 

 reduction of 5.5 per cent in the acreage of this crop from 

 last year. There is a reported decrease of 6 per cent in 

 New York and of 1 per cent in Pennsylvania, which two 

 States produce about 70 per cent of the entire crop. The 

 average condition is 87.2, against 94.9 on Aug. 1, 1897, 96 

 on Aug. 1, 1896, and 90.2, the August average of the last 

 ten years. 



The average condition of Irish potatoes fell during the 

 month of July from 95.5 to 83.9. This latter condition is 

 6 points higher than that of Aug. 1, 1897, 10.9 points lower 

 than the condition on Aug. 1, 1896, and 3.2 points below 

 the August average of the last ten years. 



The reports as to sweet potatoes are not suflSciently com- 

 plete to warrant the establishment of an average of condition 

 for the entire country, but, with few exceptions, they are 

 very favorable. 



Taking the entire cotton-producing region as a unit, the 

 condition of the crop on August 1 was exactly the same as 

 on July 1, namely, 91.2. This is 4.3 points higher than on 

 Aug. 1, 1897, 11.1 points higher than on Aug. 1, 1896, aud 

 5.8 points higher than the August average of the last ten years. 



No average condition of tobacco for the entire country 

 can be established, but there has been a decline in nearly all 

 the principal tobacco-growing States during the month of 

 July. 



Preliminary returns indicate a total area of the hay crop, 

 mown or to be mown, eight- tenths of one per cent greater 

 than last year. The average condition of timothy, 99.3, has 

 no parallel in the records of the department. The produc- 

 tion of clover is likewise very high, being 97 per cent of a 

 full crop. 



In the average condition of pastures there has been a 

 general decline during July. 



