14 



corn in the silo or feed it green, as it will not ripen unless 

 we have an exceptionally late fall. The following figures, 

 derived by averaging the reports by counties and for the 

 State, denote the percentage of the corn crop grown for en- 

 silage ; Berkshire, 48 ; Franklin, 43 ; Hampshire, 43 ; Hamp- 

 den, 28; Worcester, 60; Middlesex, 65; Essex, 67; E'orfolk, 

 Y4; Bristol, 36; Plymouth, 16; Barnstable, 0; the State, 

 44.6, or less than half the crop. In one or two instances 

 correspondents reported " well-cultivated fields looking good," 

 indicating the value of the dust mulch. If every farmer 

 would attend strictly to the matter of keeping continuously 

 an inch or two of loose soil on his fields complaints of dam- 

 age from drought would be lessened considerably. 



The Hay Ceop. 

 Earlier predictions were for an excellent crop of hay. The 

 dry weather of June, however, was very disastrous to the 

 crop, so much so that when it came harvest time it was found 

 that while the crop as a rule was secured in excellent condi- 

 tion the quantity again fell much below normal, although it 

 was slightly larger than last year. The reports are very 

 uniform, and while many report the crop normal compared 

 with " former " years, it must be remembered that the crop 

 has been short for a number of seasons. While the crop in 

 this State will not have much influence in fixing the price 

 for next winter, it will mean a big loss to our farmers if they 

 have to buy hay again this year. 



EoEAGE Crops. 

 Corn and the millets seem to be the crops most used for 

 forage, while Hungarian grass, oats and peas, barley and 

 some others are used to quite an extent. In general, forage 

 crops have felt the effects of the drought quite severely, and 

 many reports indicate that they have failed to come up alto- 

 gether when planted, or, having come up, are very uneven. 

 The recent rains have been of great benefit to these crops, 

 as to all others, and they are now growing very well. 



