24 



is inclined to lodge. There is promise of a full crop. The pre- 

 dicted heavy crop of hay turned out to be only a good average one. 

 Corn, oats and miUet and Hungarian grass are the principal forage 

 crops raised. Market-garden crops good, with the usual prices. 

 Early potatoes only one-half crop, owing to the dry weather; late 

 potatoes looking well. Prospect for fruits : apples good ; pears 

 light; plums light; grapes good; blueberries plentiful. Pasturage 

 much improved since recent rain. Rye and oats compare well with 

 former years. About five to ten acres of new orchard set this year. 

 Only three or four silos built in the last ten years. No farmers use 

 summer silo. 



Monson (F. D. Rogers). — Potato bugs and various kinds of flies 

 are proving most troublesome. Corn very late, but good color and 

 growing fast; probably 25 per cent used for sUo. Hay crop nearly 

 normal; turning out better than was expected. Japanese millet and 

 corn are in good condition as forage crops. Early potatoes are a 

 light crop. Prospect for late ones is much better if blight can be 

 avoided. Fruit prospects: apples fair; pears, peaches and plums 

 very light; grapes good. Pastures are in poor condition. Rye 

 yields a heavy crop. Oats were short and mostly made into hay. 

 About ten acres of new orchard have been set. Ten per cent of 

 the farmers in this vicinity use the sUo. 



Palmer (0. P. Allen). — Elm-leaf beetles are doing a good deal 

 of damage and plant lice on shrubs and trees are also very in- 

 jurious. Corn is very backward, and has been damaged somewhat 

 by the severe drought in June. The hay crop is about normal. Corn 

 is the main forage crop raised, and the drj' weather has affected it 

 considerably. Market-garden crops are late, but have been greatly 

 improved by the recent rain. There is a fair promise for apples, 

 but other fruits will be very scarce. Pastures are in poor condition. 

 Rye, oats and barley are not up to normal. The number of silos is 

 rather less than ten years ago. Rye and barley are used as ensilage 

 to a limited extent. 



Brimfield (T. N. Lawrence). — Potato bugs are very plenty. 

 Corn is coming on fine since the rain; less than 25 per cent is jiut 

 into the silo. Hay crop is smaller than last year. Millet gi'own as a 

 forage crop is looking well. Potatoes are growing now; they 

 seemed to stand stUl during the drought in June. The promise is 

 for about a three-quarters crop of apples; no peai*s; a few peaches 

 on high land; and one-third of a crop of plums. Pastures are in 

 fair condition. Rye nearly a full crop. Oats and barley have not 

 developed yet, owing to the dry weather. There have been prob- 

 ably twenty-five acres set to apples. About one-half of the farmers 

 in this vicinity make use of the silo ; the number is increasing slowly. 

 Japanese millet is used in the silo to a very light degree. 



