29 



g^een worm is eating the maples and oaks. No Indian com raised. 

 Haying has begun and there will be a fine crop. Early potatoes 

 promise a good crop; they are already in bloom; the acreage is about 

 the same. Early market-garden crops are a little backward, but yield 

 is good; prices are lower on bunched beets. There are few cows in 

 town. Pasturage is beginning to get short. Apples and pears did 

 not set well; peaches are very scarce; strawberries a light crop. 

 Only a few farmers irrigate. Frost on the 8th cut off some beans. 

 Farming in this locality is being driven away. Short hours (forty- 

 four per week) for mechanics and very high pay per hour make the 

 hours of the farm laborers very unpopular. 



Marlborough (E. D. Howe). — Hundreds of apple trees are being 

 stripped by tent caterpillars and brown-tail moths. Indian corn is 

 very backward. Ensilage corn is still being planted. Haying has 

 begun; most farmers will get about 75 per cent of the average crop. 

 A normal amount of early potatoes has been planted and the crop 

 is looking well. There is not much early truck grown. Quantity of 

 milk nearly equals the demand, at an advance of 1 cent per quart 

 i-etail. Cows are scarce and high. Pastures are in better condition 

 than for several years. Strawberry crop is good; raspberries and 

 blackberries are setting full. Slight frosts about June 8 injured 

 corn slightly; tomatoes the most. 



Newton (Gr. L. Marc y). — Most damage is being done by cut- 

 worms. Indian corn is looking well and the acreage is the same. 

 Haying has beg-un, and the prospect is for a good crop. Prospect 

 for early market-garden crops is good. The quantity and price of 

 daily products and the supply of dairy cows are about the same. 

 Pastures are in good condition. In'igation is practiced slightly. No 

 frosts. 



Hopkinton (W. B. Thompson ). — Potato bugs are proving inju- 

 rious, but not in any quantity. Corn looks well; a full average 

 acreage, but a trifle late in planting. Haying has begun; there is a 

 fair crop, but the dry weather is affecting it. Not many early pota- 

 toes raised. Not much early market-garden truck. The price of 

 daii-y products is lower, but milk is short. The supply of cows is 

 likewise short. Strawberries are poor, the dry weather of last year 

 having hurt them ; raspberries look like a good crop. No damage by 

 frost since last report. 



ESSEX COUNTY. 



Ameshury (F. W. Sargent). — Brown-tail and gypsy moths are 

 proving most injurious ; a few leopard moths are seen. Indian com 

 is very backward, with less planted than usual. Haying has not 

 begun, but a large crop is promised. There is about the usual acre- 

 age of early potatoes; the crop is backward. No early market-gar- 

 den crops to put on the market as yet, other than asparagus. Milk 



