10 



unpicked Baldwin apples showing among the snow-covered 

 branches, — all presented an unusual sight. 



The precipitation was considerably above the normal in 

 the eastern and slightly below in the western section. At 

 Cotuit, the total rainfall for the month was 1(3.14 inches, 

 5.46 inches more than the normal for the month. A Avind 

 velocity of 40 miles an hour was registered at Boston on 

 the 2'M. 



Crops of the Year. 



The general opinion of correspondents the first of June 

 seemed to be that the month opened under less favorable 

 conditions, agriculturally speaking, than it did last year. 

 The month of April was quite favorable. The month of 

 May was decidedly cool and wet, with occasional frosts, 

 which did considerable damage to fruit and early crops 

 in many sections. The correspondents were about evenly 

 divided as to the future outlook. Almost every correspond- 

 ent reported the presence of the tent caterpillar, and that 

 steps had been taken by many farmers to destroy the pest, 

 while others did nothing. Nearly all the correspondents 

 reported first-class farm help as quite difficult to obtain, and 

 that $20 to $25 per month and board was a fair average of 

 the wages paid such help. 



The 1st of July it was believed that on the whole the 

 season compared favorably with last season. The opinion 

 was general that Indian corn was looking very well, though 

 much of it was backward on account of cool, dry weather; 

 and that the acreage was larger than last year. Haying 

 had very generally commenced, but grass was late and the 

 weather had been unfavorable for curing, so that little had 

 been secured. The hay crop promised to be considerably 

 less than the ci-op of last year. Early potatoes were look- 

 ing very well, and the acreage was estimated to be consider- 

 ably greater than last year. The general opinion seemed to 

 be that dairy products had been a little less in quantity, of 

 about the same quality and with a little better price than 

 last year. Generally speaking, the outlook for small fruits 

 was good. The strawberry crop was hardly over two-thirds 

 of an average. Blackberries, raspberries and grapes promised 

 good crops. 



