Crop Eeport foe the Month of Mat, 1904. 



Office of State Boakd of Agriculture, 

 Boston, Mass., June 1, l!i04. 



Bulletin No. 1, Crop Eeport for the month of May, our 

 first monthly crop bulletin for the year, is presented here- 

 with. These bulletins will follow the usual lines for this 

 year, so far as at present arranged for, with statistics re- 

 garding the crops of the countr}^ followed by notes on the 

 weather conditions in Xew Enoland and the United States 

 at large, a summary of crop conditions compiled from the 

 reports received from our numerous correspondents, selected 

 reports of correspondents, and finally an article on some 

 subject of interest to our farmers by a recognized expert in 

 the line treated on. Suggestions for improvement in form 

 and substance matter will be gratefully received. An article 

 on " The hay crop in Massachusetts," by Prof. Wm. P. 

 Brooks, professor of agriculture at the Massachusetts Agri- 

 cultural College, will be found printed at the close of this 

 bulletin. Professor Brooks has given this subject very care- 

 ful consideration, and it is one that should appeal to all 

 thoughtful farmers. Intensive cultivation is the secret of 

 success on our New England farms, and applies as well to 

 grass culture and the care of mowings as to the management 

 of market gardens. 



Progress of the Season. 

 The May returns to the Bureau of Statistics of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture (Crop Reporter for May, 

 1904) show the area under winter wheat in cultivation on 

 May 1 to have been about 27,083,550 acres. This is 

 4,932,700 acres, or about 15.4 per cent, less than the area 

 sown last fall, and 5,247,000 acres, or 16.7 per cent, less 

 than the area of winter wheat harvested last year. The 



