cloudy weather produced an inferior quality of feed, and 

 this has been followed by loss of quality in dairy products. 

 The fanners of the State, as a whole, are undoubtedly 

 interested in agricultural fairs and receive direct benefit 

 from them. The rowen crop was unusually large, but, 

 owing to unfavorable weather, much of it was spoiled in 

 trying to secure it. The average yield was about one ton 

 per acre. The onion crop was below the average, both in 

 quantity and quality. The cranberry crop was about three- 

 fourths of an average. Late potatoes were about half a 

 crop, with quality about three-fourths of an average. All 

 fruits are inferior in quality and below the average in quan- 

 tity. The crop of winter apples is somewhat less than half 

 a crop, of about three-fourths of an average in quality. 

 Corn has been cut, and husking has commenced in some 

 sections. In the table will be found figures showing the 

 averages of crops by counties. On the last pages will be 

 found an extract from an address delivered at the Annual 

 Fair of the Essex County Agricultural Society, last year, by 

 Hon. H. G. Herrick of Lawrence. Copies of this bulletin 

 will be mailed on application. 



The Weather. 



The weather, during the month of September, was quite 

 generally damp and cloudy, with frequent light rains. At 

 Amherst the number of days on which .01 inch or more of 

 rain fell was eleven. The rainfall for the month was slightly 

 below the average. At Amherst it was 2.36 inches ; at 

 Boston, 3.19; at Monroe, 3.13; and at Leominster, 3.05 

 inches. The average rainfall at Amherst for the month of 

 September for the past twenty years was 3.72 inches and 

 at Boston for the past nineteen years was 2.89 inches. The 

 first week was unusually warm, while the temperature for 

 the remainder of the month was about normal. Slight frosts 

 occurred during the last ten days of the month, in various 

 parts of the State, but scarcely any damage was done to 

 crops. In some sections high winds, the 10th and 11th, 

 blew olF considerable fruit. Through the kindness of the 

 director of the Hatch Experiment Station, of the Massa- 

 chusetts Agricultural College, we are enabled to print the 

 summary of the Meteorological Observatory at Amherst for 

 the month of September. 



