BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



The Year's Crops. 



Crop conditions in the State have been excellent the past 

 season, and prices were normal until the outbreak of the 

 European war, when prices for such crops as apples, onions and 

 potatoes fell off. This was due to several causes, namely, the 

 overestimate of some crops by the government, poor exporting 

 conditions, lack of storage facilities, and also a tendency on the 

 part of many farmers to rush all their crop to market at once, 

 irrespective of grades. 



^Market gardeners have had a fair season with the exception 

 of the fall and early winter, when lettuce as usual has sold very 

 cheap. It would seem as if some action should be taken by the 

 market gardeners to create a standard for this crop. Far too 

 much light lettuce is put upon the market, and coming into 

 competition as it does with a part of the southern crop, the 

 southern lettuce is preferred owing to its greater weight. 



Undoubtedly our market gardeners would secure a better 

 price for their lettuce were they content to grow three crops 

 instead of four, or, in some cases, two crops instead of three. 

 Other market-garden crops were good, and on the whole prices 

 were normal. 



The onion crop in the Connecticut valley was fine, — the 

 best in years, — but prices ruled low and may have some 

 influence in reducing the acreage planted the coming season. 



Tobacco in the Connecticut valley was good, and fair prices 

 have been realized for the crop. Probably no crop in ■Massa- 

 chusetts receives such careful, painstaking attention as does 

 tobacco, grown as it is by a class of farmers highly skilled in 

 this work, by study of soils and fertilizers, cultural, harvesting 

 and curing conditions. They have brought this crop up to 

 be one of our most profitable, and while the area in which it 

 may be cultivated is restricted, still the per acre production is 

 high. 



In many sections old seedings and clover were severely 

 injured by the deep freezing and severe winter weather, so that 

 the hay crop was much reduced, and, although definite figures 

 are not available at this time, the crop was probably less than 

 in 1913. 



