Crop Eepoet for the Month of September, 1912. 



Office of State Board of Agricultube, 

 Boston, Mass., Oct. 1, 1912. 



The September number of the Crop Eeport is herewith 

 presented. 



At this time most crops have been harvested, and the re- 

 turns are actual facts and not simply estimates of future 

 results. These returns, therefore, will be of even greater 

 interest than those made when the crops were growing. With 

 the frosts of this month we may now be assured that the year 

 1912 is a most unusual one, in that frosts have occurred more 

 or less generally every month of the year. 



The special bulletin in this issue is an article by Dr. C. D. 

 Jar vis, of the Connecticut Agricultural College, on " Prun- 

 ing the apple tree." This article in a measure supplements 

 the bulletin on " Apple growing " which was recently pub- 

 lished by this Board. The photographs which accompany 

 the article serve to emphasize the accepted idea of pruning 

 young trees, that tendency which goes toward keeping the 

 tree low and open, which is so ably discussed in the article. 

 The advantages of the low tree in picking and spraying oper- 

 ations are very apparent to the most casual observer, and it 

 will readily be seen that, by keeping a tree cut back in the 

 center and open so that the sun can thoroughly penetrate the 

 foliage, the fruit must be greatly benefited. Dr. Jarvis gives 

 some very valuable pointers as to proper methods of pruning. 



Progress of the Season. 

 The Crop Reporting Board of the Bureau of Statistics of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture estimates, from 

 the reports of the correspondents and agents of the Bureau, 

 as follows for the United States : — 



