THE rOETY-SECOND ANNUAL EEPOET 



OF THE 



SECRETARY 



OP THE 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of 



Massachusetts, 



The season of 1894 was quite generally considered a poor 

 one for the farmers. None of our crop correspondents, in 

 their returns to this office, November 1, spoke of it as unusu- 

 ally profitable, while the large majority considered it either 

 unprofitable or only fairly profitable. The unfavorable con- 

 ditions were largely due to the drought of summer and early 

 fall, which shortened nearly all crops, and in some sections 

 reduced them very materially. There was also much com- 

 plaint of slow sales and low prices. One correspondent 

 attributed this latter fact to so many men being out of 

 work, thus shortening the local markets. 



Massachusetts Weather, 1894. 



[ Compiled from data furnished by the New England Weather Service. ] 



January was warm and dry. The highest temperature 

 was on the 24th and 25th, varying from 47° to 57° ; and 

 the lowest was on the 13th and 29th, when it was from 8° 

 above zero on the coast to 9° below zero in the interior 

 counties. The precipitation was generally deficient. Most 

 of the snow fell on the 27th and 30th. During the greater 

 part of the month the ground was mostly bare. 



