year?" The general opinion seemed to be that Indian corn 

 at present is looking very well. ^Nluch of it is backward on 

 account of cool, dry weather. In general the acreage is 

 increased over that of last year. Some correspondents 

 report the acreage this year to be twice that of last. 

 According to the report of the Secretary of Agriculture, 

 Washington, 1890, the number of acres of corn in this 

 Commonwealth last year was 54,134, yielding 1,868,000 

 bushels, valued at $1,307,336. According to the same 

 authority there were in 1888 twelve acres of corn for every 

 thousand acres of land surface. 



The third question asked was : " Has haying commenced, 

 and what is the prosi)ect for a crop ? " Haying has very 

 generally commenced, but grass being late and the weather 

 unfavorable for curins; but little has been secured thus far. 

 It is expected, if the weather be favorable, that haying will 

 commence in earnest the week following July 4. The 

 crop throughout the State is considerably less than that 

 of last year. On moist, newly seeded lands the crop gen- 

 erally promises to be quite good, while on old meadows 

 and on high, dry land it will be small. It is estimated 

 that the crop will be about three-fourths of an average. 

 Com[)laint is made of injury to standing grass, particularly 

 to June grass, by an insect which causes the tops to turn 

 white before blossoming. 



* This insect is a species of thrips {Limothrlps poapJiagus, 

 Com.), a minute, orange-colored insect w^hich conceals 

 itself beneath the sheath of the upper leaf, where it feeds on 

 the stem just above the upper joint, completely killing the 

 stem above, so that by haying time at least one-fourth of the 

 grass is dead and worthless. The insect escapes from the 

 stalk before the " turning white," and nothing can be done, 

 economically, to destroy the insect itself. It would be 

 advisable to discontinue the cultivation of grasses injured 

 by it in localities where the damage done by it is large. 



The fourth question asked was: "Do early potatoes 

 promise well, and is the acreage in your vicinity greater than 

 last year?" Most of the correspondents state that early 

 potatoes are looking very well, although some report that 



* Dr. C. H. Fernald. 



