The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1908-07-17
wINDHAM COUNTY CROPS.
Hay Earlier than Usual-Gardens De-
stroyed by Deer.

Crops in Brattleboro and WindhaI
county, with the exception of the ha
crop, are late for two reasons, the coli
Spring and the lack of moisture after tn
seeds terminated Hay is the principa
crop, and that is early for the reason tina
the dry weather caused it to ripen OF
before it reached its growth. Hay i
about two weeks earlier than usual thi
year, according to the Springfield Repub
lican, and the farmers generally have he
gun harvesting, in fact, many OF then
have finished haying, and while copiou'
rains would help out other crops they
would be too late to benefit the hay now
standing. 1t is estimated that the hay
crop will be about onethrd lighter thar
the average hay crop, except on new
ground, where the yield is heavier than
in the old fields. One naturally would
think that near the rivers the hay CROP
would be more abundant than back on
the hills. but the farmers say the hill
farms yield more hay than the river
farms for the reason that near the rivers
the soil is more sandy. Hay fields near
the river in the West river valley are
noticeably brown Hungarian grass,
which is later than hay is looking fairly
well and will yield an average crop if
rain comes soon.
The hard storm Thursday did a lot of
good to crops in general within the ter
ritory covered, but it was limited to a
small part of the county, including Brat
tleboro. The hailstorm, which was CON
fined within the limits of Brattleboro, did
some damage, but the loss would have
been much greater had it not been for
the fact that the crops were late. The
path of the storm did not cover any to.
bacco fields, but ii riddled the leaves of
garden plants. For the most part how
ever, these were first leaves, so that their
loss, except where the plants were broken
off, is not material.
The corn crop, which Is second in ex-
tent in the county, is about 10 days late.
corn is planted in order to keep the
seeds from rotting before they have
chance to terminate, and on account of
the cold spring the farmers delayed
planting corn. The crop is growing well
now, and the prospects are that the yield
will be up to the average. Corn with
stands a drouth better than most crops.
At this time of year corn usually is about
ready to put out tassels, but it will be
some time yet before tassels appear. The
potato fields look well, and potato grow
ers are looking forward to large crop.
The earlier fields are now in blossom. It
10 db tHdb pClltu lldo thN potdtOCo DtSlli
to grow Good weather conditions from
now on would make the growers happy.
The principal tobacco towns in the
county are Putney and Vernon. The
crop is backward on account of dry
weather. An unusual amount of work
has devolved upon tobacco raisers this
season as it has been necessary to water
the plants by hand in order to keep them
alive
A dozen years ago a large amount of
oats were grown in Windham county, but
for some unexplainable reason they have
been attacked by rust in recent years.
On that account comparatively few oats |
are grown now except for fodder, and |
they are cut early in order to escape the
rust. The oat crop is looking well now. |
1t is apparent that the fruit crop this
year will be light, although what there |
is looks well. Deer are working havoc in |
the gardens in many parts of the county |
They are seen, not infrequently, in herds |
of FIVE to ten, and not few gardens
have been ruined by them in single
night. They are particularly fond of |
beets, peas and cabbages. Some of the
farmers are threatening vengeance regard
less of the law. In general, it may be
said that the crops are backward, but
hat they will mature in good condition
lnder proper weather conditions from
now on, with the exception of hay, as
before stated.