10 



Some correspondents express the fear that the drought has 

 done permanent injury to the mowings and materially re- 

 duced the prospect for next year's hay crop. 



Potatoes. 

 The drought has badly injured potatoes and the crop will 

 be* considerably below average in all sections. Several 

 speak of them as " small and few in a hill." A few speak 

 of the prospect as good but the great majority consider the 

 crop light or below average. The quality is generally 

 spoken of as excellent, there being little blight and less rot. 



Tobacco. 

 Owing to the early setting and maturing of tobacco it has 

 stood the drought quite well and though dried up in some 

 localities will on the whole be a fair crop. Most fields will 

 probably fall below the average in weight, but the quality and 

 color of the leaf promise to be good. The crop promises 

 to be much better in every way than that of last year. The 

 sale of 2,834 cases the last week in August was reported 

 in the tobacco trade journals of New York, the heaviest 

 week's business in four months. 



Fruits and Berries. 

 The apple crop is very uneven, some reporting good or 

 fine crops while from nearby localities the crop is reported 

 to be a failure or very light. The drought has led to the 

 dropping of the fruit in many places and seriously injured 

 the crop. The prospects appear to be more uniformly good 

 in Worcester County than in any other section of the 

 State. The crop as a whole will probably fall consider- 

 ably short of an average. Quality is generally reported to 

 be excellent. Pears are also uneven, though the prospect for 

 an average crop is somewhat better than with apples. They 

 are also reported to be of excellent quality. Peaches may 

 be considered almost, if not quite, a total failure. The con- 

 tinued dry weather has caused the dropping of much of the 

 remaining fruit during the past month, and the crop may 

 now be considered as reduced almost to a minimum. Grapes 

 will probably be a fair crop, though like the fruits already 

 mentioned they are uneven and will not fulfill the expecta- 



