Crop Eeport for the Month of May, 1912. 



Office of the State Board of Agriculture, 

 Boston, Mass., June 1, 1912. 



This is the first number of the Crop Report, series of 1912. 

 The form of these reports will not be changed from that of 

 past years, but the scope will be extended to include notices 

 of public meetings, fairs, new publications, and like things 

 of interest to our farmers, so far as space will permit. We 

 want our readers to take an active part in making these re- 

 ports more and more valuable, and we welcome constructive 

 criticism to this effect. 



The special article this month is by Dr. George M. 

 Twitchell of Auburn, Me., one of our most popular farmers' 

 institute speakers, and widely known throughout iSTew Eng- 

 land. It deals with a subject of interest to every stock- 

 keeper, namely, " Pork making for Massachusetts farmers." 



Progress of the Seasoi^. 



The Crop Reporting Board of the Bureau of Statistics, 

 United States Department of Agriculture, estimates, from 

 the reports of correspondents and agents of the Bureau, as 

 follows : — 



On May 1 the area of winter wheat to be harvested was 

 about 25,744,000 acres, or 3,418,000 acres (11.7 per cent) 

 less than the area harvested in 1911, and 6,469,000 acres 

 (20.1 per cent) less than the area sown last fall (32,213,000 

 acres). The average condition of winter wheat on May 1 was 

 79.7, compared with 80.6 on April 1, 86.1 on May 1, 1911, 

 and 85.2, the average for the past ten years on May 1. A 

 condition of 79.7 per cent on May 1 is indicative of a yield 

 per acre of approximately 14.4 bushels, assuming average 

 variations to prevail thereafter. On the estimated area to be 

 harvested, 14.4 bushels per acre would produce 370,714,000 



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