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grain wintered well. Live stock wintered very well. Fruit trees 

 have about seventy-five per cent of an average bloom, with the 

 exception of Baldwin apples, which have not blossomed at all. 

 Tent caterpillars and asparagus beetles are doing the most damage. 

 Farm help is paid $20 per month with board, and $1.50 per day 

 without board. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Groton (Daniel Needham). — The season is very backward, 

 owing to eight inches of rain having fallen during the month. 

 Live stock has wintered well. Grass is in excellent condition, and 

 fall seeded grain wintered well. The fruit bloom was fully fifty 

 per cent below an average, and very few Baldwin apples have 

 blossomed. Tent caterpillars have appeared, but are not as 

 numerous as last year ; the highway surveyors were instructed to 

 destroy them on all the highways. Farm help is paid $30 per 

 month with board, and $40 without board. 



Billerica (J. N. Pardee). — The .season is fully as early and 

 warmer than the average, and the springs are fuller. Live stock 

 wintered well. Grass is in good condition, being ahead of last 

 year at this time, and all fall seeding has wintered well. The 

 apple bloom is from ten to twenty-five per cent of a full bloom, 

 while all other fruit trees are fully one hundred per cent. Tent 

 caterpillars are doing the most damage, the usual remedies being 

 applications of kerosene and spraying with Paris green. Farm 

 help is paid $12 to $20 per month with board, and from $30 to 

 $40 without board. 



Concord (Wm. H. Hunt). — The season is late and cold. Stock 

 wintered as well as usual. Grass in mowings and pastures is in 

 good condition. Tent caterpillars are not so abundant as last 

 year, but the asparagus beetle is about the same. The average 

 price paid farm help is about $20. 



Marlborough (E. D. Howe). — The season is two weeks later 

 than last year. The condition of live stock shows evidence of a 

 scarcity of hay. Grass is in good condition, and fall seeded grain 

 wintered fairly well, though some has been drowned out this 

 spring. Caterpillars and canker worms are our most injurious 

 insects, and are kept in check by spraying and hand-picking. 

 Farm help is paid $25 per month with board, and $1.75 per day 

 without board. 



Sherbom (N. B. Douglas). — The season is more backward 

 than last year, otherwise the outlook is about the same. Live 

 stock is looking better than usual. Grass has wintered well. All 

 fruits except Baldwin apples and crab-apples have blossomed fully. 



