The Portland daily press., 1868-07-09
The Crop Prospects.

/
The Crop Prospects.
July has commenced and brings with it
| just such weather as the farmer needs to push
vegetation ahead and make up for the back
ward spring and late sowing and planting
In our State a heavy burden of grass covers
the land and this month and portion of
the next will be busy time, and haying will
press hard upon the energies Of the haymak-
ers. 1t is valuable crop for Maine and we
trust our farmers will exercise sound judg-
ment as well as strong muscles ill getting it
into their barns in good order. The prospect
| now is dry, hot weather, and haymakers
must be careful to cut the grass in season
and not dry the life out of it in hot sun.
1t has been the case in years past that grass
has not only been moved too late, but also
too much dried in the sun. We believe most
of our farmers have learned some valuable
| lessons on this subject and govern themselves
accordingly. And yet we fear there are some
old fogies left who will dry their hay till it is
as brittle as pipe stems. Wilt in the sun and
cure in the cock, and then you will have val
liable food for your stock. We have seen
clover so dried in the sun that the heads and
leaves would drop off leaving nothing but the
stocks which are no better than rye straw for
| cattle.
But we have strayed from our subject. 1t
is seldom that we see vegetation 60 ahead
| more rapidly in any season than it does now.
| Corn is coming forward unusually fast, and
| hn 10
and in fact so does everything. Occasional
showers and an "Indian summer" will give
the farmers of Maine ample rewards for their
tolls. The same remarks we apply to Maine
may be applied to other States of New Eng
land. We hear from many portions of our
State that the apple crop will be better than
it has for the past two or three years, and
good reports in relation to this important
| crop come to us from some other States
Along the seaboard the prospect is not so fa-
vorable, owing to cold winds and frequent
storms and want of sunlight. On Long Is
land fruit is almost failure and the Della
ware and the Maryland shore will have a
short crop.
The Tribune says through the Middle
States, east of the Alleghanies and down the
North Carolina line, all kinds of productions,
and wheat in particular, are represented at
full average. On the thin soil of the Gulf
States and around to Louisiana, vegetation
has suffered for want of rain, but cotton stands
drought better and it is estimated that there
will be half of such crop as was common
before the "unpleasantness." The accounts
from Tennessee and Arkansas are favorable,
and the wheat already gathered is of fine
quality.
When Southern Missouri, Illinois, Indiana
and Kentucky report nothing new, this
in the Southwest is good news. In the great
corn region not SO full breadth of land was
planted as was intended, owing to the wet
weather, still there was great area cultivat-
ed. Recent heavy rains have done considera-
bic damage in Ohio. The wheat crop through
all this region is good-better than common.
In the Wabash Valley it it is more promising
than for fifteen year past. In more Northern
sections, including Iowa, Minnesota, Wiscon-
sin, Northern Illinois and Michigan, farming
was less delayed by April rains, and the pros
poets for abundant crops are highly promis-
ing.
Along the Southern border of this region
the potato or Colorado bug swarms in great
numbers and the potato crops are in great
danger. The accounts from Michigan are
very encouraging. Corn is little backward,
but the small grains are represented as better
than for ten years. very great breadth has
been planted with potatoes, and "the farm
ers," says the Tribune, "seem excited with
| the expectation of large profits, and if the
yield is an average one they will have sur
| plus sufficient for many States" In West
Virginia in Mason County gentleman in
forms the Tribune that he has planted fifty
| acres since the 10th of May, and that his crops
look promising. Oats look well and wheat
bids fair
From California the reports are most fa-
vorable. The wheat crop of 1868 will be fully
| one third larger than that Of 1867, and so we
may expect frequent arrivals of California
flour. In Tennessee wheat is being harvested
| in large quantities, and in Alabama harvest
ing is the order of the day, and the cotton
and grain crops in North Alabama will be
good. In the southern part of Georgia, the
wheat has been cut and threshed, and corn
and cotton look WELL The young cotton is
| healthy. Now we have some drawbacks to
all this In Florida the season has not been
good, and yet corn will turn out well aud the
cotton crop promises an excellent yield. In
| portions of Texas, the wheat crop has been
almost entirely destroyed by the rust, but the
nrospect for corn is excellent. Fruit in Indi-
ana is a partial failure. In South Carolina
the cotton crop of the Sea Islands though
backward, is in vigorous and healthy condi-
| tion. The wheat has been injured by storms
| in the northern counties.
1t is said by the intelligent farmers that
the crops of Pennsy and New York
ers who have come among them are much
better than >others. And we venture the
opinion that if any of our Maine farmers have
settled there, their crops look more promising
than some others. In Connecticut, rye looks
well on the uplands, but oats, are late, and in
| low lands, will turn out poor crop. The
insects and worms are troublesome, and grass
has suffered from too much rain and too little
sunshine. The worms have injured the fruit
trees in some localities. In the vicinity of
Des Moines, Iowa, the grasshoppers have ap-
peared, and one paper says they will
average forty bushels to the acre. Near
Council Bluffs they are also numerous and
damaging One farmer tried carbonate of
hme but he rather thought they liked it. In
some parts of Wisconsin the farmers are
turning their attention to dairying In Ken
osha county quite business is carried on IN
making butter and cheese. In the county
there are two thousand cows, and the cheese
from their milk last year netted almost one
hundred thousand dollars. No doubt the
day is not far distant when the farmers of the
West will produce butter and cheese in larg-
er quantities than they have in past years.
| I'm some DOrtiOns of Eurone the prospects