crops are at a standstill for want of rain ; fruit, except 

 peaches, giving full blossoms. 



Week ending May 18. — New England. Boston: Warm 

 days, cool nights, plenty of sunshine and extremely dry ; 

 grass being seriously damaged by drought and crops grow- 

 ing slowly ; forest fires frequent and severe; corn planting 

 under way in south and begun in north. 



Week ending May 25. — New England. Boston : Cool, 

 with sharp frosts on several mornings, causing slight damage 

 to fruit and early vegetables ; heavy sshowers along southern 

 coast and everything benefited ; only light showers in 

 interior and crops sufl:ering ; tobacco setting begun ; cran- 

 berries budding full. 



Weather for May, 1896. 



Unusually fair, warm and dry weather prevailed over the 

 greater part of Massachusetts during the month of May. 

 At Boston two-thirds of the days gave an excess in temper- 

 ature, while the average daily excess for the month was 

 about 4°. At Fitchburg the month averaged 2.5° a day 

 warmer than usual. Light frosts prevailed in eastern dis- 

 tricts on the 20lh, 21st and 24th, but no damage of amount 

 was done. 



The ground was getting rather dry on all the uplands at 

 the beginning of the month, and as only an occasional trace 

 of rain fell during all the first two-thirds of May, it is feared 

 that much damage has been done to grass lands and some 

 field crops. On the 19th a moderate shower fell in south- 

 eastern counties, and again on the 21st the soil was well 

 moistened in that section ; but in the western part of the 

 State hardly enough came to lay the dust till the last few 

 days of the month. On dry lands grass has headed out 

 while standing only a few inches in height, and it is thought 

 this crop must be permanently shortened for this season. 

 Seed put into the ground has come very slowly, and on 

 some fields it has been too dry to plough. The weather 

 has been favorable for insect pests, and they have flourished 

 accordingly. Canker worms have done unusual damage in 

 orchards in the eastern part of the State. Many report 

 they have never seen tent caterpillars so thick, and others 



