Ckop Eepokt for the Month of May, 1909. 



Office of State Board of Agriculture, 

 Boston, Mass., June 1, 1909. 



Herewith we present the first issue of the crop report 

 for the current year. These bulletins will be issued monthly, 

 on or about the first of the month, for the months from May 

 to October, and will contain the usual information on crop 

 conditions in Massachusetts and throughout the United 

 States, and also special articles upon matters of interest to 

 farmers and others interested in the tilling of the soil. 



The special article in this issue is not on a subject which 

 has to do with the raising of crops or the handling of farm 

 animals, but which is nevertheless of timely importance to 

 our farmers. It is by the State Ornithologist of Massachu- 

 setts, Mr. Edward Howe Forbush, and is on. " The farmer's 

 interest in game protection." Mr. Forbush has given the 

 question of game protection a great deal of study, and is 

 thoroughly posted on the subject. His work in this line, 

 and in the protection of insect-eating birds, has been very 

 valuable to the farmers of Massachusetts. 



Progress of the Season. 

 The Crop Reporting Board of the Bureau of Statistics, 

 United States Department of Agriculture (Crop Reporter 

 for May, 1908), estimates that on May 1 the area of winter 

 wheat to be harvested was about 27,871,000 acres, or 2,478,- 

 000 (8.1 per cent) less than the area harvested in 1908, and 

 2,163,000 acres (7.2 per cent) less than the area sown 

 last fall, 30,034,000 acres. The average condition of winter 

 wheat on May 1 was 83.5, compared with 82.2 April 1, 89 

 on May 1, 1908, and 86, the average for the past ten years 

 on May 1. 



