La Crosse County, Wisconsin - The whole text, 1881 (part 6 of 16)

The gar-pikes (^Ltpidoiteus) are rejirescnted by at least three spiecies of this singular fish. They have long serpentine bodies, with, jaws prolonged into a regular bill, which is well provided with teeth. The scales are composed of bone covered on the outside with enamel, like teeth. The alligator gar, confined to the depths of the .Missis,sippi, is a large fish, and the more common species, Lrpidoitcus hi-iO/i, attains to a consitierablc si/e. The LcpiJasii-i'us, now only found in Xortli America, once had rejiresentativej all over the globe. Fossils of the same family of « liich the gar-pike is the ty|)e, have been found all over Europe, in tlie oldest fossiliferous beds, in the strata of the age of coal, in the new red b.andslone, in ociliiic deposits, and in the chalk and tertiary formations - being one of the many living evidences that North America was the first countr_\- above the water. For all practical purjioses, we should r.ot regret to have the gar-pikes follow ill ilu- fontste))-, of iheir aged and illustrious predecessors. The\- could well be spjared.

Fish of the northern countries are the most valuable, for the reason that the water is colder and purer. Wisconsin, situated between forty-two thirtv, and forty-seven degrees of latitude, bounded on the east and north by the largest lakes in the world, on the west by the "Great river," traversed by numerous fine and rapid streams, and sprinkled all over with beautiful and picturesque lakes, has physical conditions certainly the most favorable, perhaps of any State, for an abundant and never-failing supply of the best fish. Few persons have any idea of the importance of the fisheries of Lake Michigan. It is diti'icult to collect adcrpiate data to form a correct knowledge of the capital invested and the amount of fish taken; enough, however, has been ascertained to enable me to state that at Milwaukee alone $100,000 are invested, and not less than two hundred and eighty tons of dressed fish, t.iken annually. At Racine, during the entire season of nine montiis, there are, on an average, one thousand pounds of whitefish and trout, each, caught and sold daily, amounting to not less tlian $16,000. It is well known that, since the adoption of the gill-net system, the fishermen are enabled to pursue their calling ten months of the year.

When the fish retire to the deep water, they are followed with miles of nets, and the poor fish are entangled on every side. There is a marked falling off in the number and size of whitefish and trout taken, when compared with early years. When fish were only captured with seines, they had abundant chance to escape and multiply so as to keep an even balance in number. Only by artificial propagation and well enforced laws protecting them during the spawning season, can we hope now to restore the balance. In order to give some idea of the valuable labors of the state fish commissioners, I will state briefly that they have purchased for the state a piece of property, situated three miles from Madison, known as the Nine Springs, including forty acres of land, on which they have erected a dwelling-house, barn and hatcher\, also constructed several ponds, in which can be seen many valuable fish in the enjoyment of perfect health and vigor. As equipped, it is, undoubtedly, one of the best, if not the best, hatchery in the states. In this permanent establishnient the commission design to hatch and distribute to the small lakes and rivers cf the interior the most valuable cf our indigenous fish, such as bass, pike, trout, etc., etc., as well as many valuable foreign varieties. During the past season, many fish have been distributed from this state hatchery. At the Milwaukee Water Works, the commission have equipped a hatchery on a large scale, using the water as pumped directly from the lake. During the past season there was a prodigious multitude of young trout and whitefish distributed from this point. The success of Superintendent \\'elcher in hatching whitefish at Milwaukee has been the best yet gained, nearly ninety per cent, of the eggs "laid down" being hatched. Pisciculturists will appreciate this wonderful success, as they well know hov.- difficult it is to manage the spawn of the whitefisii.

They were distributed as follows, in the month of May, 1S77 : Whitefish planted in Lake Michigan, at Racine, 1,000,000; at Milwaukee, 3.260,000; between Manitowoc and Two Rivers 1,000,000; in f'rreen bay, 1,000.000; in Elkhart lake, 40,000.

, Salmon trout were turned out as follows: Lake Michigan, near Milwaukee, 600,000; Brown's lake, Racine county, -lo.oco; Dela\ an lake, Walworth county, 40,000; Troy lake, Walworth county, 4o,oco; Pleasant lake, Walworth county, .;o,oco ; Lansdale lake, Walwortli county, 40,000; Ella lake, Milwaukee ccHinty, 16, GOO ; Cedar lake, Washington countv, 40,000 ; Elkhart lake, Sheboygan rounty, 40,000; Clear hike. Rock county, 40,000; Ripley lake,

Jefferson county, 40,000; Mendota lake, iJane county, 100,000; Fox lake, Dodge county, 40,000; Suan and Sil\er lakes, Columbia county, 40,000; Little Green lake, Green Lake county, 40,000; Lig Green lake. Green Lake county, ico,ooo ; Bass lake, St. Croix county, 40,000; '1 win lakes, St. Croix county, 40,000; Long lake, (Jhippewa county, 40,000; Oconomowoc lake, Waukesha county, 100,000; Pine lake, Waukesiia county. 40,000; Pewaukee lake, Waukesha county, ico,ooo; North lake, Waukesha county, 40,000 ; Nagawicka lake, Waukesha county, 40,000; Okanche lake, Waukesha county, 40,000.

Fifty years ago, the territory now included in tiie state ol" Wisconsin, was nearly in a state of nature, all the large wild animals were then abundant. Xow, all has changed. The ax and plow, gun and dog, railway and telegraph, have metamorphosed the face of nature. Most of the large quadrupeds !iav-j been either exterminated, or have hid themselves away in the wilderness. In a short time, all of these will have disappeared from the state. The date and order in which animals become extinct within tlie boundaries of the state, is a subject of great interest. There was a time when the antelope, tlie woodland caribou, the buffalo, and the wild turkey, were abundant, but are now no longer to be found.

The Antelope, Anliiocarpj Americana, now confined to the Western plains, did, tv.'o hundred years ago, inhabit \Visconsin as far east as Michigan. In October, 1679, Father Hennepin, with La S.iHe and party, in four canoes, coasted along the Western shore of Lake Michigan. In Hennepin's narrative, lie says; " The oldest of them "' (the Indians) " came to us the next niorning with their calumet of peace, and brought some ui-.Li goals." This was somewhere north of Milwaukee. "Being in sore distreSi, we saw upon the coast a great many ravens and eagles ". (turkey vultures), '" from wh-,-nce v.-e conjectured there v.as some prey, and having landed upon that place, we found above tlie lialf of a f.it wilJ goat, whicli the wolves had strangled. This provision was very acceptable to us, and the rudest of our men could not but praise the Diviiie Providence v.hich took so particular care of us." This must have been somewliere near Racine. "On the i6lh" (October, 1C79), " we met with abundance of game. A savage we had with us, killed several stags (deer) and 'oil. I goats, ar.d our men a great many turkeys, very fat and big." This must have been south of Racine. 'I hese ^'i'i7/j were undoubtedly antelopes. Schoolcraft mentions anteloiics as occupying the Xorthwest territory.

When the last buff.nlo crossed the Mississippi is not precisely known. It is certain they lingered in Wisconsin in 1S25. It is said t'lere was a buffalo sliot on the St. Croi.x river as late as 1S3;, so Wisconsin claims th.e last buffalo. Tlie woodlarid caribou - liangi/ir cariliou - were never numerous within ir.e limits of the state. .V ['iv: were seen not far from La Pointc in The last wild turkey in the eastern portion of the state, was in 1S46. On the Mississippi, one was killed in 1S56. I am tuld by Dr. W.ilcott, thai turkeys were abundant in Wisconsin previous to the hard winter of iS4:>-3, when snow was yet two feet deep in March, with a stout crust, so that the turkeys could not get to the ground. 'I'hey became so [loor and weak, that they could not fl)-, and thus became an easy prey to liie wolves, foxes, wild cats, minks, etc., which exterminated alnlo^t the entire race. The Doctor says he saw but one single individual the next winter. I'lk were on \\a)- river in 1S63. and I have little doubt a few yet remain. Moose are not numerous, a few yet remain in the northwestern part of the state. I saw moose tracks on the Montreal rivor, near Lake Superior, in the summer of 1S45. A few jianthers may still inhabit the wlhicrness of Wisconsin. P.enjamin Bones, of Racine, shot one on t!ie headwaters of

Black river, December, 1S63. Bad.S'ers are now nearly gone, and in a few years more, the only badgers found within the state, will be two legged ones. Beavers are yet numerous in tlie small lakes in the northern regions. \\'olverinL3 are ociasionaily met with in the northern forests. Bears, wolves, and deer, will continue to flourish in the northern and central counties, where underbru,ih, timber, and small lakes abound.

All large animals will soon be driven by civilization out of AVisconsin. The railroad and improved firearms will do the work, and thus we lose the primitive denizens of the forest and prairies.

Peculiarities Of The Bird Fau.Va

The facts recorded in this paper, were obtained by personal observations within fifteen miles of Racine, Wisconsin, latitude 42° 46' north, longitude S;" 4S' west. This city is situated on the western shore of Lake Michigan, at the e.xtreme southern point of the heavy lumbered -district, the base of v,-hich rests on Lake Superior. Raciiie e.xtend^ six miles further into the lake than Milwaukee, and two miles further than Kenosha. At tliis point the great prairie approaches near the lake frum the west. The extreme rise of the mercury in suinmer, is from 90° to 100° Fahrenheit. The isothermal line comes further north in summer, and retires further south in winter than it does east of tlie great lakes, which pb.ysical condition will sufficiently explain the remarkable peculiarities of its animal life, the overlapping, as it were, of two distinct faunas. More especially is this true of birds, that are enabled to change their locality with the greatest facility.- Within the past thirty years, I have collected and observed over three hundred species of birds, nearly half of all birds found in North America. Many species, considered rare in other sections, are found here in the greatest abundance. .\ striking peculiarity of the ornithological fauna of this section, is that southern birds go farther north in summer, while northern species go farther south in winter than they do east of the lakes. Of summer birds that visit us, I will ennumerate a few of the many that belong to a more southern l.ititude in the Atlantic States. Nearly all nest with u^. or, at least, did some years ago.

These e.xamples are surticient to indicate the rich avi fauna of Wisconsin. It is doubtful if there is another locality wiiere the Canada jay and its associates visit in winter where the mocking bird nests in summer, or where the hawk o'.vl llies silently over the spot occupied during the warmer days liy the summer red bird and the yellow-breas:ed chat. But the a.x has already leveled much of the great woods, so that there is now a great I'alling off in numbers of our old familiar feathered friends. It is now extremely doubtful if such a collection can ever again be mad( within the boundaries of this state, or indeed, of any other.

Educational History

From the time of tlie earliest advent of the families of French traders into the region now known as ^^'iscons;n, to the year iSiS, when tljat region became jiart of Michigan territory, education was mostly confined to private instruction, or was sought by the children of the wealthier in tiie distant cities of Quebec, Montreal, and Detroit. Tlie early Jesuit missionaries, and - sulist qucnt!)- to iSi6, v.-hen it came under the military control of the United States - representatives of various other religious denominations, sought to teach the Indian tribes of tliis section. In 1823, Re\ . P^lcazar Wiiliam.-,, vv-ell known for his subsequent claim to be the Dauphin of France, and who v.-as in th.e einploy of the Episcopal ^^issionarv Society, started a school of white and half-breed children on the v.est side of Fox river, op[)Ositc " Shanty-Town." A Catholic mission school for ludians was organized by an Italian priest near Green Bay, in 1S30. .A clause of the treaty with the Winnebago Indians, in 1S32, bound the United States to maintain a scliooi for their children near Prairie du Chien for a period of twenty-seven years.

From iSiS to 1S36, 'Wisconsin formed part of Michigan territory. In the year 1837, Michigan was admitted, into the Union as a state, and Wisconsin, embracing what is now Minnesota, Iowa, and a cons:derable region still furtlicr westward, was, by act of congress approved April 20th of the year previous, estal'lished as a separate territory. Tlie act provided that the existing laws of the territory of Michigan should be extended over the nev>- territory so far as compatible with the provisions of the act, subject to alteration or repeal by tlie new government created. Thus with the oilier statutes, t'le school code of Michigan became the original code of AVisconsin, and it v,-as soon formally adopted, with almost no change, by the first territorial legislature, which met at Belmont. Altiiougli modified in some of its provisions almost every year, this imperfect code continued in force until the adoption of the state constitution in 1S4S. The first material changes in the code were made by the territorial legislature at its second session, in 1837, by the passage of a bill " to regulate the sale of school lands, and to provide for organizing, regulating, and perfecting common schools." It was provided in this act that as soon as twenty electors should reside in a sur\eycd luu nshiji, they should elect a board of three commissioners, holding otFire three years, to lay off districts, to apply the proceeds of tlie leases of school lands to the payment of teachers' wage,-, and to call school meetings. It was also provided that each district siiuuid elect a board of three director-, holding office one year, to locate school-houses, hire teachers f. ir at least three months in the )'ear, and levy taxes for the support of schools. It was further prnvided that a third board of five inspectors should be elected annually in each town to examine and license teachers and i^^;'ect the scliools. Two years subsequently (i'^39) the law v, a ; revised ami the fiinily, instead of tiie electors, v.-as made the ba-Ls of th.e toun organization. Every to'.\ n with not less than ten fam.ilies was made a schoc'l district and re'iuired to prinide a ronipcteiu leac:her. More i.ioj)ulous towns v. ere divided into two or more district.,. 'I'he office of town (or.imissioner was abolished, its duties with certain otr.ers being tr.in-fcrred to tiie inspectors. The rate-bill sy.-tem of taxation, jireviously in existence, was repe.iled, and a lax 011 the wliole county for building school-houses and suDjjort- ing schools was provided for. One or two years later the office of town commissioners was restored, and the duties of the insj.ectors were assigned to the same. Other somewliat important amendments were made at the same time.

In 1S40, a memorial to ciai^^ress from the legislature represented that the people were anxious to establish a comm'in-sch.ool sj'stem, w.tli suitable resources for its support. From lack of sufficient funds many of the schools were poorly organized. The rate-bill la.\ or private subscription was often nece^s.irv to supplement the scanty results of county taxation. Until a state government should be organized, the fund accruing from the sale of school lands could not be available. Congress h.r.d made to Wisconsin, as to other new states, for educational purposes, a donation of lands. Th.se lands embraced the sixteenth section in every township in the state, the 500,000 acres tn whi. h i!ie state was entitled by the provisions of an act of congress passed in 1841, and any grant of lands from the United States, the purposes of which were not specified. To obtain t'le benefits of this large fund was a leading object in forming the state constitution.

Shortly befor,. :i;e admission of the state the subject of free schools began to be quite widely discussed. l;i February, 1S45, Col. M. Frank, of Kenosha, a member of the territorial legislature, iniroduct-d a bill, which became a law, authorizing tlie legal voters of his own town to vote taxes on all the assessed property lor the full support of its schools. A provision of the act required its submission to the people of the town befjrc it could take effect. It met with strenuous oppo.-.iiiofi, but after many public meetings and lectures held in the interests of public enlightenment, the act was ratified by a small majority in the fall of 1S45, and thus the first freescliool in the state v.Ms legally organized. Subsequently, in the legislature, m the two constitutional conventions, and in educational assemblies, the question of a free-school system for the new state soon to he 'iv-anized provoked much interest and discussion. In the constitution framed by the convention of 1S46, was jirovided the basis of a free-school system similar to that in our present constitution.. The question of estajilisiiing the office of state superintendent, more than any other feature C'f the pro'po>ed school system, elicited discussion in that body The necesaiiy ui this office, and the advantages of free schools supported by taxation, were ably jiresented to the convention by Hon. Henry iiarnard, of Connecticut, in an evening address. He afterward prepared, by request, a draft of a free-school system, with a state superintendent at its head, which was accepted and subsequently embodied in the constitution and the school law. In the second constitutional convention, in 1S4S, the same questions again received careful attention, and the article on education previou.-,ly prepared, was, after a few changes, brought into the shape in which we now find it. Immediately after the ratification by the people, of the constitution prejvared by the second convention, three commissioners were appointed to revise the statutes. To one of these. Col. Frank, the needed revision of the school laws was assigned. The work was acceptably performed, and the new school code of 1S49, largely the same as the present one. went into operation May first of that year.

In the state constitution was laid tlie broad f(.)undation of our present school system. The four corner stones were; (i) The guaranteed freedom of the schools; (.") the school fund created: (j ) tlie system of supervision; (4) a state university for iiiglier instruction. 'i'iie scliool fund has five distinct sources for its creation indicated in the constitution: (i) Proceeds from the sale of lands granted to the state by the United States for educational purposes; (^) all moneys accruing from forfeiture or escheat; (3) all fines collected in the several counties for breach of the penal laws ; (4) all moneys paid for exemption from military duty ; (5) five per cent. of the sale of government lands within the state. In addition to these constitutional sources of the school fiind, anntlier and sixth source was open from 1S56 to 1S70. By an act of the state lec;islature in tlit- former vear, three-fourths of the net proceeds of the sales of the swamp and overflowed l.mds, granted to the state by congress, Sept. zS, 1850, were added to the commonschool fund, the other fourt'u going into a fund for drainage, under certain circumstances ; but if not paid over to any town for that purpose within two years, to become a part of the school fund. The following year one of these fourths was converted into the normal-school fund, leaving one-half for the common-school fund. In 1S5S, another fourth was given to the drainage fund, thus providing for the latter one-half the income from the sales, and leaving for the school fund, until the year 1S65, only the remaining one-fourth. In the latter year this was transferred to the normal-school fund, with the provision, however, that one-fourth of the income of this fund should be transferred to the common-school fund until the annual income of the latter fund should reach $200,000. In 1S70 this provision was repealed, and the whole income of the normal fund left applicable to the support of normal schools and teachers' institutes.

At the first session of the state legislature in 1848, several acts were passed which carried in some degree the educational provisions of the constitution. A law was enacted to provide for the election, and to define the duties, of a state superintendent of public instruction. A district board was created, consisting of a moderator, director, and treasurer; the office of town superintendent was established, and provision was made for the creation of town libraries, and for the distribution of the school fund. The present school code of Wisconsin is substantially that passed by the legislature of 184S, and which went into operation May i, 1S49. The most important change since made was the abolition of the office of town sujierintendent, and the substitution therefor of the county superinteiidency. This change took effect January i, 1S62.

The firbt annual report of the state superintendent, for the year 1S49, gives the income of the school fund for that year a^ §5'''''' or cigiii and three-tenth mills per child. JNIilwaukee -county received the largest annnmt, ¥^9. 63, and. St. Croix county the smallest, twenty-four cents. The average in the state was furty-seven ccp.ta per district. The following talile will show at a glance the quinquennial increase in the income uf the fund, t'lie corresponding increase in the r.uml)er of school children, and tlie apportionment per child, from 1S49 to 1S75, inclusive; also, the last published apportionment, tl-.at for 1S7S. It will be seen that since 1S55 the increase of the fund has not kept j/aee with the increase of school [Population :

The amount of productive school I'lind rei><)rted .September 30, 1878, was $2,680,703.27. The iK)rt;on of the liind not invested at tii it due, was ,<5S,S23.7o.

In his message to the first territorial legislature, in 1036, Governor Dodge recommended asking from congress aid for the establishment of a st.ite educational institution, to be governed by the legislature. This was the first official action looi^ing to the establishment of a state university. The same legislature passed an act to establisli and locate the \Visconsin university at Belmont, in the county of Iowa. At its second session, the following year, the legislature passed an act, which was approved January 19, 1S30, establishing '' at or near Madison, the seat of government, a university for the purpose of educating youth, the name whereof shall be 'The Univerbit\- of the Territory of \Vi~consin. " A resolution was parsed at tlie same session, directing the territorial delegate in congress to ask of tliat body an appropriation of $20,000 for the erection of the buildings o; said university, and also to appropriate two townships of vacant land for its endowment. Congress accordingly appropriated, in 1S3S, seventy-two sections, or two townships, for the support of a "seminary of learning in the territory of "Wisconsin," and this was afterward confirmed to the state for the use of the university. No effectual provision, however, was made for the establishment of the university until ten years later, when the state was organized. Congress, as has been said. h.;d made a donation of lands to the territory for the support of such an institution, but these lands could not be made available for that purpose until the territory should become a state. The state constitution, adopted in 1S4S, declared that provision b-hould be made for the establishment of a state university, and that the proceeds of all lands donated by the United States to the state for the sujipoit of a university should remain a perpetual fund, the interest of which should be appropriated to its support

The state legislature, at its first session, passed an act, approved July 26, 1S4S, establishing the University of Wisconsin, defining its location, its government, and its various departments, and authorizing the regents to purchase a suitable site for the buildings, and to proceed to the erection of the same, after having obtained from the legislature the approval of plans. This act repealed the previous act of 1S3S. The regents were soon after appointed, and their first annual report was presented to the legislature, January 30, 1S49. This report announced the selection of a site, subject to tlie approval of the legislature, announced the organization of a preparatory department, and the election of a chancellor or president. The university was tlius organized, with John H. Lathrop, president of the University of Missouri, as its first chancellor, and John AV. Sterling as principal of the [ireparatory department, which was opened February 5, 1849. Chancellor Lathrop was not formally inaugurated until January 16, 1S50.

Owing to the short-sighted policy of the state in locating without due care, and in appraising and selling so low the lands of the original grant, the fund produced was entirely inadequate to the support of the institution. Congress, therefore, made, in 1S54, an additional grant of seventy-two sections of land I'or its use. These, however, were located and sold in the same inconsiderate and unl'ortunate manner, for so low a price as to be a means of inducing immigration, indeed, but not of producing a fund adequate for the support of a successful state university. Of tiie 92,160 acres comprised in tlie two grants, there iuid been sold prior to September 30, 1SO6, 74,178 acres for tile sum of $264,570.13, or at an average price of but little more than §3.50 per acre.* Besides this, the state had allowed the univer.-,ily to anticipate its income to the extent of over §ico,coo t'or the erection of buildings. By a law of 1S62 tiic sum of $104,339.43 was taken from its t'und 1 already too small) to yiixy for these buildings. The resulting embarrassment made necessary tiie re-organization of 1S66, which added to the slender resources (.A the institution the agricultural college fund, arising from tiie sale of lands donated to the slate by the congressional act of 1.S62.

'Coiiip.irff the price olit.Tli.eil for the lamls of the University of Michic-.in, The fir';t !ale of those lands averajed $22.8; per acre, and hrou^'ht in a sin;j!e year {i33;) $150,447.90. Sales were made in succeeding years at $15, $17, and $11} j.cr a^re.

The first university building erected was the north dormitory, wliich was completed in 1851. This is no feet in length by 40 in breadth, and four stories in height. The south dormitory, of the same size, was completed in 1855. The main central edifice, known as University Hall, was finished in 1S59. The Ladies' College was completed in 1872. This latter was built with an appropriation of $50,000, made by the legislature in 1S70 - the first actual donation the university had ever received from the state. The legislature of 1S75 appropriated $So,ooo for the erection of Science Hall, a building to be devoted to instruction in the physical sciences. This was completed and ready ibr occupancy at the opening of the fall term of 1S77.

The growth of this institution during the past fourteen years, and especially since its reorganization in jS66, has been rapid and substantial. Its productive fund on the 30th day of September, 1877, aside from the agricultural college fund, was $223,240 32. The combined university and agricultural funds amounted, at the same date, to $464,032 22. An act of the legislature in 1S67 appropriated to the university income for that year, and annually for the ne.xt ten years, the sum of $7-303.76, being the interest upon the sum taken from the university fund by the law of 1S62 for the erection of buildings, as before mentioned. Chapter 100 of the general lau'S of 1S72 also provided for an annual state ta.x of §10,000 to increase the income of the university. Chapter 119 of the laws of 1S76 provides for an annual state tax of one-tenth of one mill on the taxable property of the state for the increase of the university fund income.'ii'.is tax to be "/'« lieu of all other appropriations before provided for the benefit of said fun'c!, jnie," and to be "deemed a full compensation for all deficiencies in said income arising from the disposition of the lands donated to tlie state by congress, in trust, fur the benefit of said income." The entire income of the university from all sources, including this ta.\ (which was $42,359.62), was, for the year ending September 30, 1S7S, j;Si,442.63. The university has a faculty of over thirty professors and instructors, and during the past year - 1S77-S - it had in its various departments 3S8 students. The law department, organized in 1S6S, has since been in successful operaation. Ladies are admitted into all the departments and classes of the university.

The agricultural college fund, granted to the state by the congressional act of 1862, was by a subsequent legislative enactment (i 866) applied to tire support, not of a separate agricultural college, but of a department of agriculture in the existing university, thus rendering it unnecessary for the state to erect separate buildings elsewhere. Under the provisions of ch.npter 114, laws of 1S66, the county of Dane issued to the state, for the purpose of purchasing an exjierinicntal farm, bonds to the amount of $40,000. .\ farm of about 200 acres, adjoining the university grounds, was p'irchased, and a f >ur years' course of study provided, designed to be thorough and extensive in the branches that relate to agriculture, in connection v.ith its practical application upon the experimental f.inn.

The propriety of making some special provision for the instruction of teachers was acknowledged in the very organization of the state, a provision for normal schools having been embodied in the coiutitution itself, which ordains that after the support and ii;aintenanre of the common schools is insured, the residue of tlie school fund shall be appropriated to academies and normal schools. The state legislature, in its first session in 1S4S, in the act establishing the University of Wisconsin, declared that one of the four departments thereof should be a department of the theory and practice of elementary instruction. Tiic first institution ever ch.artered in t!;e state as a normal school was incorporated by the legislature at its second session - 1S49 - under the title of tlic " Jefierbon County Normal School." This, however, was never organized.

The regents, when organizing the university, at their meeting in 1S49, ordained the establishment of a normal professorsiiip, and declared tliat in organizing the normal department it was their fixed intention " to make the University of Wisconsin subsidiary to the great cause of popular education, b'y making it, througli i:s normal department, the nursery of the educators of the popular mind, and the central point of union and harmony to t!ie educational interests of the commonwealth." Tliey declared tiiat instruction in the normal department should be free to all suitable candidates. Little was accomplished, ho'.vever, in this direction during the next ten years. In 1S5 7 an act was jiassed by the legislature appropriating twenty-five per cent, of the income of the swaui[.i-land fund " to normal institutes and academics under the supervision and direction of a board of regents of normal schools," who were to be ajjpointed in accordance with tlie provisions of the act. Distribution of this income was made to such colleges, academies, and high schools as maintained a normal class, in proportion to the number of pupils passing a successful examination conducted by an agent of the board. In 1S59, Dr. Henry Barnard, who had become cliancellor of the university, was made agent of the normal regents. He inaugurated a system of teachers' institutes, and gave fresh vigor to tlie norntal work throughout the state. Resigning, however, on account of ill-health, witliin two years. Professor Chas. H. .Mien, who had been conducting institutes under his direction, succeeded him as agent of the normal regents, and was elected principal of the normal department of the university, entering upon his work as tlie latter in Marcli, 1S64. He managed the department with signal ability and success, but at the end of one or two years resigned. Meantime the educational sentiment of the state had manifested itself for the establishment of separate normal schools.

In 1S65, the legislature passed an act repealing that of two years before, and providing instead that one-h.ilf of the s'vanip land fund should be set apart as a normal-school fund, the income of -u-hicli sliould be applied to establishing and supporting normal scliools under the direction and management of tlie board of normal regents, with a proviso, lio\iever, that onefourth of such income should l)C annually transferred to the common-school fund income, until the latter should amount annually to $:oo.ooo. This proviso was repealetl by the legislature ot 1S70, and the entire income of one-half the swamp-land fund has since been devoted to normalschool purposes. During the same year proposals were invited for aid in the establishment of 3 normal school, in money, land, or buildings, and propositions from various places were received and considered. In i.:66, the board of regents w.is incorporated by the legislature. In the same j'ear Platteville was conditionally selected as tlie site of a school, and as there was already a productive fund of about $600,000, with an inconie of over §30,000, ^nd a prospect of a steady increase as the lands were sold, the board decided upon the policy of establishing several schools, h'tated in dilTerent jiarts of the state. In pursu:ince of this j.olicy. there have already been and are now in very sv.cce-st'ul operation, the I'laUeville Normal School, opened f Jctober 9, 1S66 ; the NViiitewater Normal School, opened April 21, 186S ; the Oshkosh Normal !^ihoc>l, opened Septemlier 19, 1^71, and the River Falls Normal School, opened September .;, 1S75. Each assembly district in the state is entitled to eight representatives in tlie normal schools. The.--e are nominated by county and city superintendents. Tuition is free to all normal students. There are in the normal schoi/Is two courses of studv - an

Including tho:>e in tlie cities, the graded bchools of the State number about four hundred. The annual report of the State superintendent for 1S7S gives the number with two departments a.-) 207, and the number with t!;ree or more as 225.

A law of Mareii, 1S72, ]irovidcd that "all graduates of any graded school of the state, who shall ha\e passed an examination at such graded school satisfactory to the faculty of the university for admis qon ii. to th.c sab-frcsh.man class and college classes of the university, shall be at once and at all times entitled to free tuition in all the colleges of the university." A considerable number of grad.uates of graded scliools entere-d tiie university under tliis lav,- during the next fr;ur ) ears, bat it being deemed an unwise discrimination in favor of this class of students, in iS;6, in the same act which provided for th.e t.ix of one tenth of cr.e mill, the legislature provided that from and al'ter the /jth of Jidy of that year no student, except students in law and those faking extra sttidies, shoidd be reqinred to ]'a\- any tees for tuition. Few graded schools of the state are a'ole as vet to fully prepare students for entrance into the regular ciasses of the clas^ic.d d-partment of the iinlvers;;-, . Tiie larger number prepaied by them still enter the scientific department or the sub-freshman class.

bo.ird, employ teachers, etc., and for a secretary to record proceedings of the board, have immediate charge and supervision of the schools, and perform other specified duties. But few towns have as yet made trial of this system, although it is in successful operation in Pensylvania, Massachusetts, and some other states, and where fully and fairly tried in our own, has proved entirely satisfactory. It is the general belief of our enlightened educational men that the plan has sue? merits as ought to secure its voluntary adoption by the people of the state.

In 1S75 the legislature enacted that any town, incorporated village, or city, may establish and maintain not more than two free high schools, and provided for an annual appropriation of not to exceed $25,000, to refund one-half of the actual cost of instruction in such schools, but no school to draw in any one year more than $500. At the session of 1S77 the benefits of the act were extended to such high schools already established as shall show by a proper report that they have conformed to the requirements of the law. If towns decline to establish such a school, one or more adjoining districts in the same have the privilege of doing so. The law has met with much fa\or. For the school year ending August 31, 1S76 (the first year in which it was in operation), twenty such schools reported, and to these the sum of $7,466.50 was paid, being an average of S373.32 per school. For the year ending August 31, 1S78, eighty-five schools reported and received a pro rata division of the maximum appropriation. The high school law was primarily designed to bring to rural neighborhoods the twofold advantages of (i) a higher instruction than the- common district schools afford, and (2) a better class of teachers for these schools. It was anticipated, however, from the first that the immediais results of the law would be chiefly the improvement of existing graded schools in the larger villages and in cities..

School Officers. The school officers of Wisconsin are, a state superintendent of public instruction, sixty-four county superintendents, twenty-eight city superintendents, and a school board in each district, consisting of a director, treasurer, and clerk. The state and county superintendents hold office two years, the district officers three years. In each independent city there is a board of education, and the larger cities have each a city superintendent, who in some cases is also jjrincipal of the high school. He is appointed for one year. The county board of supervisors determine, within certain limits, the amount of money to be raised annually in e.icii town and ward of their county for school purposes, levy an additional amount for the salary of tiie county superintendents, may authorize a special school tax, and may under certain circumstances determine that there shall be two superintendents for their county. The town board \i\ supervisors have authority to form and alter school districts, to issue notice for first meeting, to form union districts for high school purposes, and appoint first boards for the same, to locate and establish school-house sites under certain circumstances, to extinguish districts that have neglected to maintain school for two years, and to dispose of the property of the same. The district clerks report annually to the town clerks, the town clerks to the county superintendents, and the county and city superintendents to the state superintendent, who in turn makes an annual report to the governor.

The state superintendent is auihorized by law ''to issue state certificates of high grade to teachers of eminent qualifications." Two grades of these are given, one unlimited, and the other good for fi\-e years. The examination is conducted by a board of three examiners, ajipointed annually by the state superintendent, and acting under rules and regulations prescribed bv him.

Besides the Wisconsin State Teachers' Association, holding its annual session in the summer and a semi-annual or " executive " session in the winter, there are, in several parts of the state, county or district associations, holding stated meetin-s. The number of such associations is annually increasing.

The utility of pu'olic libraries a.< a part of the means of popular enlightenment, was early recognized in this state. The constitution, as set forth in 1S4S, required that a portion of the income of the school fund should be applied to the '"purchase of suitable libraries and apparatus" for tjie common schools. The same year the legislature of the state, at its first session, enacted that as soon as this income should amount to $60,000 a year (afterwards changed to $30,000), each town superintendent might devote one tenth of the portion of this income received by his town annually, to town library parpo-~es, the libraries thus formed to be distributed amon'^ the districts, in sections, and in rotatiua, once in three months. Districts were also empowered to raise money for library books. The operation of this discretionary and voluntary system was not successful. In ten years (1S5S) only about one third of the districts (1,121) had libraries, embracing in al^ but 38,755 volumes, and the state superintendent, Hon. Lyman C. Draper, urged upon the legislature a better system, of tou-n libraries," and a state ta.x for their creation and maintenance. In 1S57, the legislature enacted that ten per cent, of the yearly income of the school fund should be applied to the purchase of town school libraries, and that an annual tax of one tenth of one mill should be levied for the same pi:rpo:,e. The law was left incomplete, however, and in 1862, before the system had been perfected, the e.xigencies of the civil v/ar led to the repeal of the law. and the library fund wiiich had accumulated from the ten per cent, of the school fund income, and from the library tax, amounting in all to $.88,784.78, was transferred to the general fund. This may be considered a debt to the educational interests of the slate that should he rei'.aid. Meanwiiile the single district library system languishes and yearly grows weaker. The re-enacting of a town library system, in v.hich local effort and expenditure shall be stimulated and supplemented by State aid, has been recommended by the State Teachers' Association, and will, it is hoped, be secured, at no distant day, as a part of a complete town system of schools and of public education.

The act creating th.e ofhce was passed at the first bession of the state legislature, in 1S4S. The incuiiibents up to tlie present time have been as fulluws :

Edttattoxal History

Beloit College was founded in iS47,at Beloit, under the auspices of the Congregational and Presbyterian churches of Wisconsin and northern Illinois. In 1S4S, Rev. Joseph Emerson and Rev. J. J. Bushnell were appointed professors, and in 1S49, Rev. A. L. Chapin was appointed president, and has continued such until the present time The institution has had a steady growth, has maintained a h!L;h standard of schularDhip and done excellent work, both in its preparatory and college departments. Two hundred and tliirty-six young men have graduated. Its lands and buildings arc valued at $70,000, and its endowments and funds amount to about $122,000.

Lawrence University, at Appleton, under the patronage of the Methodist church, was organized as a college in 1S50, having lieen an '" institute " or academy for three years previous, under the R.ev. W. H. Sampson. The first president was Rev. Edward Cook ; the second, R. Z. Mason ; the present one is the Rev. George M. Steele, I >. I). It is open to both sexes, and has graduated 130 young men, and 6S young women. It still maintains a preparatory department. It has been an institution of great benefit in a new region of country, in the northeastern part of the state. Receiving a liberal donation at the outset from the Hon. Amos A. Lawrence, of Boston, it has land antl buildings valued at $47,000, a* Appleton, and funds and endowments amounting to $60,000.

Milton College, an institution under the care of the Seventh Day Baptists, was opened as a college in 1S67, having been conducted as an academy since 1S44. Rev. W. C. Whitford, the president, was for many years the principal of the academy The institution has done much valuable work, particularly in [ueiiaring teachers for our public schools. The college has graduated 3S joung men and wonien, having previously graduated 93 academic students. It lias lands, buildings and endowments 10 the amount of about $50,000.

Ripon College, which was known till 1S64 as Brockway College, was organized in 1853, at Ripon, and is supported by the Congregational cluirch. Since its re-organization, in 1863,11 has 'graduated 77 students (of both sexes) in the college courses, and has always maintained a large and flourishing preparatory de]>artment. Under its present eflicicnt head, the Rev. E. H. !Merrell, A. M., it is meeting with continued success. Its jjrojiertv amounts to about $1^5,000.

Racine College was founded by the Episcopal Church, at Racine, in 1852, under the Rev. Roswell Park, D. D., as its first President. It wjs for a long time under the ethcient administration of Rev. James De Kovcn, D. I>., now deceased, who was succeeded by Rev. D. Stevens Parker. It maintains a large bovs' si hoc'l also, and a preparatory department. It was designed, in part, to train young men for the Nashotali Theological Seminary. It has property, including five-buildings, to the amount ^>( about 5180.000, and h.is graduated ninety-nine young men. Its firincipal work, in which it has had great success, is that of a boys' school, modeled somewhat after the English schools.

The Seminary of St. Francis of Sales, an ecclesiastical school, v.-as estalili.-^hed at St. Francis Station, near Milwaukee, chiefly by the combined elTorts of two learned and zealous priests, llie Rev. .Michael Heii--. now bishop of I. a Crosse, and tiic Rev. Joseph Salzmann. It was opened in January, 1S56. with Rev. M. llei^s as rector, and with 25 students. Rev. Joseph alzmann was rector Iroin Seiitember, 1S68. to the time of his death, Januar\' 17. 1S74, since which time Rev. C. Wapelhorst has held tile rectorshi[j. The latter is now assisted by twelve prolessors, and the students nunilier 267, of whom 105 are theologians, 31 students of philosophy, and the rest classical stutlents.

who was tlie first rector. He was succeeded in 1S74 Ijy the present rector, Rev. Thomas Bruener, who is assisted by a corp^ ol seven professors. Ilesides the college proper, there is a normal department, in which, in addition to the education that qualities for teaching in common and higher schools, particular attention is given to church music. There is also, under the same management, but in an adjoining building, an institution lor the instruction ot the deaf and dumb. The pupils in the latter, both boys and girls, numbering about 30, are taught to speak by sounds, and it is said with the best success.

An institution was organized in 1S65, at Trairie du Chien. tmder the name of Prairie du Chien College, and under the care of J. T. Lovcwell, as principal. In the course of two or three years it passed into the hands of the Roman Catholic church, and is now known as St. Jolm's College. It has so far performed princijially preparatory work.

Sinsinawa Mound College, a Roman Catholic institution, was founded in 1848, through the labors of Father Mazzuchelli, but after doing a successful work, was closed in 1S63, and in 1867 the St. Clara academy was opened in the same buildings.

The Northwestern University, which is under the Lutheran church, was organized in 1S65, at Watertown, under Rev. August F. Ernst, as president. It has graduated 21 young men, and has a preparatory department. Its property is valued at $50,000.

Galesville University was organized in 1S59, under the patronage of the Methodist church at Galesville, in the northwest part of the state. The first president was the Rev. Samuel Fallows, since state superintendent. It has graduated ten young men ard eight young v.omen, its work hitherto having been mostly prcparatorv. It is now under the patronage of tlie Presbyterian denomination, with J. W. McLaury, A. M., .^s president. It has property valued at §30,000, and an endowment of about ,^50,000.

Carroll College was established at Waukesha, by the Presbyterian church, in 1S46. Prof. J. W. Sterling, now of the state univer.-ity, taught its primary classes that year. Under President John .\. Savage, D.D., with an able cor|is of professors, it took a high rank and graduat^jd classes; but for several years past it has confined its work principally to academic studies. I'nder W. ]^. Rankin, A. M.,the present principal, the school is doing good service.

\\'ayland University was established as a college, by the Baptists, at Beaver Dam, in 1S54, but never performed nuich college work. For three years jjast, it has been working under a new charter as an academy and jirejjaratory school, and is now known as ^^"ayland Institute.

In iS4T,the Protestant Episcopal church established a mission in the wilds of \Vaukesha county, and, at an early day, steps taken to establish in connection therewith an institution of learning. This was incorporated in 1847, by the name of Nashotah House. In 1852 the classical school was located at Racine, and Xasliotah House became distinctively a theological seminary. It has an endowment of one jjrolessorshipi, the faculty and students being otherwise sustained by voluntar\- contributions. It has a faculty of five professors, with Rev. A. D. Cole, IJ.D., as president, buildings pleasantly situated, and has graduated 1S5 theological students.

Two institutions have been knovii under this designation. The Milwaukee Female College w.is founded in 185;, and ably conducted for several years, under the principalship of Miss Mary Mortimer, now deceased. It furnished an advanced grade of secondary instruction. The Wisconsin Female College, located at Fox Lake, was first incorporated in 1S55, and re-organized in 1863. It has never reached a collegiate course, is now known as Fo.k Lake Seminary, and admits both sexes. Rev. A. O. Wright, A. M., is tlic present principal.

The following institutions of academic grade, are now in operation : Alliion Academy; Kenton Academy; Big Foot Academy; Elroy Seminary ; Fox Lake Seminary ; two German and English academies in Milwaukee ; JanesviUe Academy; Kemper Hall, Kenosha ; Lake Geneva Seminary, Geneva; Lakeside Seminary, Oconomo« oc ; Marshall Academy, Marshall; Merrill Institute, Fond du Lac; Milwaukee Academy; Racine Academy; River Falls Institute; Rochester Seminary; St. Catherine's Academy, Racine; St. Clara Academy; Sinsinawa Mound; St. Mary's Institute, Milwaukee; Sharon Academy; and Wayland Institute, Beaver Dam. Similar institutions formerly in operation but suspended or merged in other institutions, were : Allen's Grove Academy; Appleton Collegiate Institute ; I'.araboo Collegiate Institute; Beloit Female Seminary; Beloit Seminary; Brunson Institute, Mount Llope ; Evansville Seminary; Janesville Academy (merged in tlie high school); Kilbourn Institute; Lancaster Institute; Milton Academy; Platteville Academy ; Southport Academy (Kenoiha); \Vaterloo Academy ; ^Vaukesha Seminary; Wesleyan Seminary, Eau Claire; and Patch Grove Academy. The most important of these were the Milton and Platteville Academics, the former merged in Milton College, the latter in the Platteville Normal School. Of the others, several were superseded by the establishment of public high schools in the same localities.

Schools of this character, aiming to furnish what is called a business education, exist in Milwaukee, Janesville, Madison, I.aCrnsse, Green Bay, Ciiiskosh and Fond du Lac. The oldest and largest is in Milwaukee, under the care of Prof. R. C. Spencer, and enrolls from two to three hundred students annually.

Agriculture

The trend of tlie earliest industries of a countr)-, is the result of the circumstances under which those industries are deNeloped. The attention of pioneers is confined to supplying the immediate wants of food, shelter, and clothing. Hence, the firs tscttlers of a country are farmers, miners, trappers, or fishermen, according as tliey can most readily secure the means of present su.-,tcnance for themselves and their f.imilies. In the early hi.^tory of Wisconsin this law is Well exemplified. The southern juirt of the state, consisting of alternations of jirairie and timber, Mas first Settled by farmers. .Vs tlie country has dcveloi'ed, wealth accumulated, and means of transportation liave been I'urnisheJ, tanning h.is ceased to be the sole interest. .Manufactories ha\e been built along the rivers, and the mining industry of the southwestern part of the state has grown to one of considerable importance. The shore of Lake Michigan was first mainly settled tied by fishermen, but the later growth of agriculture a.nd manufictures has nearly overshadowed tlie fi>hing interest ; as has the jiroduction of lumber, in the north lialf of the state, eclipsed the trapping and fur interests of the first settlers. That the most important industry of Wisconsin IS fanning, may be seen from the following statistics C'f the occupation of the peojile as given by the I'nited States census. Gut of eacli one hundred inhabitants, vl' all occupations, 68 were farmers, in 1840; 52 in 1S50; 54 in 1S60; 55 in 1S70. The rapid growth of the agriculture of the slate is illustrated liy the increase in the number of acres of improved land in farms, and in the value of farms and of farm implements and machinery, as shown by the following table, compiled from the United States census :

Machinery

Farming, at the present time, is almost entirely confined to the south half of the state, the northern half being still largely covered by foiests. A notable exception to this statement is found in the counties on the western border, wi;ich are well settled by farmers much farther north. The surface of the agricultural portion of the state is for the most part gently undulating, affording ready drainage, without being so abruptly broken as to render cultivation difficult. The soil is varied in character, and mostly very fertile. The southern portion of the state consists of undulating prairies of variable size - the largest being Rock prairie - alternating with oak openings. The prairies have the rich alluvial soil so characteristic cf the western prairies, and are easily worked. The soil of the "openings" land is usuall_\- a sandy loam, readily tilled, fertile, but not as " strong " as soils having more clay. The proportion of timber to prairie increases passing north from the southern boundary of the state, and forests of maple, basswood and elm, replace, to some extent, the oak lands. la tiiese localities, the soil is more clayey, is strong and fertile, not as easily tilled, and not as quickly exhausted as are the mure sandy soils of the oak lands. In that portion of the state kn(jwn geologically as the '" driftless " region, the soil is invariably good where the surface rock is limestone. In some of the valleys, however, where the lime-rock has been removed by erosion, leaving the underlying sandstone as the surface rock, the soil is sandy and unproductive, except in those localities where a large amount of alluvial matter has been deposited by the streams. The soils of the pine lands of the north of the state, are generally sandy and but slightly fertile. However, where ])ine is rejilaced by maple, oak, birch, elm and basswood, the soil is "heavier " and very ferule, even to the shores of Lake Superior.

The same natural coPiditions that make Wisconsin an agricultural stale, determined that during its earlier year.s the main interest should lie grain-growing. The fertile prairies covering large portions of the southern part of the state b.ad but to be plov.-ed and sowed with grain to produce an abundant yield. From the raising of cereals tlie ])ioneer farmer could get the quickest returns for his labor. Hence in 1S50, two years after its admission to the Union, \V'isconsin was the ninth state in order in the ]iroduction of wheat, while in i860 this rank was raised to third, Illinois and Indiana only raising more. The true rank of the state is not shown by these figures. Were the number of inhabitants and the luimber of acres of land in actual cultivation taken into account in the comparison, the state would stand still higher in rank than is here indicated. There is the >ame struggle f.ir existence, and tiie same desire for gain the world over, and hence the various phases of develo;Lment of the same industry in different civilized countries is mainly the result of the widely varying economical conditions imposed up'r^n that industry. Land is thoroughly cultivated in F,uroj)e, not because the Euro[jean3 have any inherent love for good cultivation, but because tiiere land is scarce and costly, while labor is superabundant and cheap. In .-Vnierica, on the other hantl, and especially in the newer states.

land is abundant and cheap, while labor is scarce and costly. In its productive industries each country is alike economical in tlie use of the costly element in production, and more lavish in the use of that which is clieaper. Each is alike economically wise in following such a course when it is not carried to too great extremes. With each the end sought is the greatest return for the expenditure of a given amount of capital. In accordance with this law of economy, the early agriculture of Wisconsin was mere land-skimming. Good cultivation of the- soil was never thought of. The same land was planted successively to one crop, as long as it yielded enough to pay for cultivation. The economical principle above stated was carried to an extreme. Farming as then practiced was a quick method of land exhaustion. It was always taking out of the purse, and never p'utting in. Xo attention w.as paid to sustaining the soil's fertility. The only aim was to secure the largest crop for the smallest outlay of capital, without regard to the future. Manures were never u^cd, and such as unavoidably accumulated was regarded as a great nuisance, often rendering necessary the removal of stables and outbuildings. Straw-stacks were invariably burned as the most convenient means of disposing of them. Wheat, the principal product, brought a lov.- price, often not more than fifty cents a bushel, and had to be marketed by teams at some point from which it could be carried by water, as this was, at an early day, the only means of transportation. On account of the sparse settlement of the country, roads were poor, and the farmer, after raising and threshing his wheat, had to spend, witli a team, from two to five days, marketing the few bushels that a team could draw. So th.at the farmer had every obstacle to contend with except cheap and very fertile land, that with the poorest of cultivation gave a coniparatiyely abundant yield of grain. liettcr tillage, acconjpanied v,ith the use of manures and otlier tVrtilizcrs, would not, upon the virgin soils, have added sufficiently to the yield to pay the cost of applying them. ?Ience, to the first farmers of the s\a.te,pDo?- farming was the only profitable farming, and consequently the only gaoi/ farming, an agriculturo-economical paradox from which tliere was no escape. Notwithstanding the fact that farmers could economically follow no other system than that of land-exhaustion, as described, such a course was none the less injurious to tlie state, as it was undermining its foundation of future wealth, by destroying the fertility of the soil, that upon which the permanent wealth and prosperity of every agricultural community is first dependent. Besides this e\ il, and together with it, came the habit of loose and slovenly farming acquired by pioneers, which continued after tlie conditions making that method a necessity had passed away. With the rapid growth of the northwest came better home markets and increased facilities for transportatirin to foreign markets, bringing with them higher prices for all products of the farm. .\s a consequence of these better conditions, land in farms in the state increased rapidly in \alue, from $9-3^ psr acre in 1S50, to §16.61 in 1S60, an increase of 62 per cent., while the total number of acres in farms increased during the same time from 2.976,65.? a-^res to 7,893,587 acres, or 265 per cent. With this increase in the value of Ian !, and the hijhcr prices paid for grain, should have come an imjiroved system of husbandry which wouhl prevent the soil from deteriorating in fertility. This coidd have been acconiiilislicd either by returning to the soil, in manures and fertilizers, those ingre'ients of which it was being rapidly drained by continued grain-growing, or by the adoption of a system of mixed husbandry, which shotild include the raising of stock and a judiciotis rotation of crops. Such a system is sure to come. Indeed, it is now blowh' coming. Great [progress upon the earlier methods of farming have already been made. But so radical and thorough a change in the habits of any class of [leople as that from the farming df pinneers 10 a rational method that will preserve the soil's fertility and pay for the labor it demands, re(]uircs many years tor its full accomplishment. It will not even keep pace with changes in those economical conditions which favor it. In the rapid settlement of the northwestern states this change has come most rapidly with the replacement of the pioneer farmers by immigrants accustomed to better methods of culture. In such cases the pioneers usually 'goweat' again, to begin anew their frontier farming upon virgin soil, as their peculiar method of cultivation fails to give them a livelihood. In Wisconsin as rapid progress is being made in the system of agriculture as, all things considered, could reasonably be evpected. This change for the better has been quite rapid for the past ten years, and is gaining in velocity and momentum each year. It is partly the result of increased intelligence relating to farming, and partly the 'result of necessity caused by the unprofitableness of the old method.

The estimated value of all agricultural products of the state, including that of orchards, market gardens, and betterments, was, in 1S70, as given in the census of that year, §79,072,967, which places Wisconsin twelfth in rank among the agricultural states of the Union. In 1S75, according to the " Report of the Commissioner of .Vgriculture," the value of the principal farm crops in this state was $53-957. 050. According to this estimation the state ranks ninth in agricultu'^al importance. As h.as been before stated, Wisconsin is essentially a grain-growing state. This interest has been the principal one, not because the soil is better adapted to grain-growing than to general, stock, or dairy farming, but rather because this course, which was at ?.n early day most immediatel}- jirofuable, has been since persistently followed from force of habit, even after it had failed to be remunerative.

From these statistics it will be seen that the increase in the production of grain was very rapid up to 1870, while since that time it has been very slight. This rapid increase in grain raising is first attributable to the ease with which this branch of farming was carried on upon the ne«- and very rich soils of the state, wiiile in the older states this branch of husbandry has been growing more difticult and expensive, and also to the fact that the war in our own country so increased the demand for grain from tS6i to 1S66 as to make this course the most immediately profitable. But with the close of the war came a diminished demand. Farmers were slow to recogni/.e this fact, and change t!ie character of their pnjductions to accord with the wants of the market, but rather continued to produce the cereals in excess of th.j demand. The chinch bug and an occasional poor season seriously injured the crops, lea\ ing those who relied principally upon the production of grain little or nothing for ilieir support. Hard times resulted from these poor crops. More wheat and corn was the farmer's usual remedy for hard times. So that more wlieat and corn were planted. .More crop failures with Knv prices brought harder times, until gradually the larmers of the state have opened their eyes to the truth that they can succeed in other branches of agriculture than grain growing, and to the necessity of catering to the demands of the market. The value in 1S69 of all farm products and betterments of the state was §79,072,967. There were raised of wheat the same year 25,606,344 bushels, which at $1.03 per bushel, the mean price reported by the Milwaukee board of trade, for No. 2 wheal (the leading grade), for the year ending July 31, 1S70, amounts to §26,374,524, or one third the value of all agricultural products and betterments. The average production per acre, as estimated by tlie commissioner of agriculture, was 14 bushels. Hence there were 1,829,024 acres of land devoted to this one cro[), nearly one third of all the improved land in the state. ()f the wheat crop of 1S69 '4-375-435 bushels were spring wheat, and 1,230,909 bushels were winter wheat, which is 19. S bushels of spring to i bushel of winter wheat. The latter is scarcely sown at all on the jirairies, or upon light opening soils. In some of the timbered regions hard}" varieties do well, but it is not a certain crop, as it is not alile to withstand the winters, unless covered by snow or litter. It is not injured as seriously by the hard freezing, as by the alternate freezing and thawing of Feb- ' ruary and March.

The continued cropping of land with grain is a certain means of exhausting the soil of the phosphates, and of those nitrogenous compounds that are essential to the production of grain, and yet are present even in the most fertile soils in but small quantities. To the diminished yield, partly attributable to the overcropping of the land, and partiall} to poor seasons and chinch bu^^a and to the decline in prices soon al'ter the war, owing to an over ])roduction of wheat, may Iar<'ely be attributed the hard times experienced by the grain growing farmers of Wisconsin from 1S72 to 1S77. The continued raising of wheat upon the same land, alternated, if any alternation occurred, with barley, oats, or corn, has produced its sure results. The lesson has cost the farmers of the state dearly, but it has not been altogether lost. A better condition of affairs has already begun. \Vheat is gradually losing its prestige as the farmers' sole dependence, while stock, dairy, and mixed farming are rapidly increasing. The number -of busliels of wheat raised to each inhabitant in the state was in 1S50 fourteen, in 1S60 twenty-three and ei^ht tenths, m !.'^7o twenty-four, and in 1S75 twenty and four tenths. These figures do not indicate a diminished productiveness of the state, but show, with the greatly increased production in other branches of husbandry, that farmers are changing their system to one more di\er3ified and rational. Straw stacks are no longer burned, and manure heaps are not looked upon as altogether useless. Much more attention is now paid to the use of fertilizers. Clover with plaster is looked upon with constantly increasing favor, and there is a greater seeking for light upon the more difficult problems of a profitable agriculture

Corn is raised to a large extent, although Wisconsin has never ranked as high in corn, as in wheat growing. sixteen states raided more corn in 1870 than this state, and in 187s, seventeen states raised mr.re. Corn requires a rich, moist soil, with a long extended season of warm sunshine. While lliis crop can be raised with great ease in the larger portion of t!ie state, it will always succeed better farther south, both on account of the longer summers and the trreater amount of rainfall. According to the statistics of the commissioner of agriculture, tiie a'verat^'e yield per acre for a period of ten years, is about 30 bushels. Corn is an important crop in the economy of the farmer, as from it he obtains much fi.od for his stock, and it is his principal dependence for fattening pork. Op. the^e accounts it will, without doulit, retain its place in the hus!>andry of the state, even when stock and dairy farming are followed to a much greater extent than at present. Harley is cultivated largely tliroaghout the state, but five states produced more in 1S70, than Wisconsin. The great quantit\- Lif beer brewed here, furni.-hes a -ood home market for this grain. IJarley succeeds best in . a ratlier moist climate, h.iving a long -rowin- season. The dry, short summers of Wisconsin, are not Well ad.ipted to its growth. Hence the avera 'e yield is but a iiicdium one, and the quality of the grain is only fair. According to the returns furnished the commissioner of agriculture, the average yield for a period of ten years, is 22 bushels per acre.

Next to wheat, more bushels of oats are raised than of any other grain. Wisconsin was, in i860, fifth in rank among the oat-growing states ; in 1S70, si.xth. The rich soils of the state raise an abundant crop of oats with but little labor, and hence tlieir growth in larc'e quantities is not necessarily an indication of good husbandry. They will bear poor cultivation better than corn, and are frequently grown uixsn land too weedy to produce that grain. It is a favorite grain for feeding, especially to horses. With the best farmers, oats are looked upon with less favor than corn, liecause it is apt to leave land well seeded with weeds which are difficult to exterminate. In the production of rye, Wisconsin ranked seventh in 1860, and fourth in iS-o, It is a much surer crop in this state than winter wheat, as it is le-,s easily winter-killed when not protected by snow, than is that grain. Besides, it ripens so earh as not to be seriously injured by drouth in summer, and succeeds well even upon the poorer boils. The average yield per acre is about 16 bushels.

But few hoiis were grown in Wisconsin, up to 1S60, when owing to an increased demand bv the breweries f the state, tliere was a gradual but healthful increase in hop culture. A feuyears later the advent of the hop lou:,e, and other causes of failure at the east, so raised the price of hops as to m;ike them a very profitable croj) to grow. Many acres v.-ere planted in this state from i86j to 1S65, when the total product was valued at nearly $350,000. The success of those engaged in thi, new branch of farming, encouraged others to adopt it. The profits were lar-e. Wheat growing h. id not for several years been remunerative, and in 1867 and 1S6S, the " hop fever " became an epidemic, almost a plague. The crop of Sauk county alone was estimated at over 4,000,000 pounds, worth over >;2,ooo,ooo. The quality of the crop was excellent, the yield Lirge, and the price unusually high. The secretary of the Slate Agricultural society says, in his report for that year, " Cases are numerous in which tlie first crop has paid for the land and all the improvements." To many fanners hop raising aiipeared to offer a sure and speedy course to _ wealth. But a chauue came ([uickly. The hop louse ruined the crop, and low prices caused by over production, aided in bringing ruin to many farmers. In 1S67, the price of hops was front 40 to 55 cents per pound, while in 1S69 it was from 10 to 15 cents, some of pnor quality selling as low as 3 cents. Many hop yards were [ih. wed up during 1869 and 1870. T'he area under cultivation to this crop in 1S75, was, according to the " Report of the Secretary of State," 10,9-2 ' acres.

The production of tobacco has greatly increased since 1S60, when there were raised in the state 87,340 pound-,. In 1870, the product was 960,813 pounds. As is well known, the quality of tobacco grown in the northern states is greatly inferior for chewing and smoking, to that -rown in the south, althuugli varieties having a large, tougti leaf, suitable for cigar wrappers, do" well here. The variety principally grown is the Connecticut seed le.if Tobacco can only be grown successfully on rich, fertile soiU, and it is very exhausting to the land. Of the amount produced in 1870, there were raided in Rock county 645.408 pound-,, an.l in Dane < ounty, 229.56S pounds; the entire remaining portion . f the state raised but 85.737 jiound-;. According to the report of the secretary of stale, the wh-ile number of acres planted to tobacco in 1S75, was 3,296. Of this amount Rock county planted i,C7<- acres, and Dane county, 1,454 .icres, leaving for the remainder of the state bv.t 106 acres. Wl-.ile the cm;, h;!. been fairly productive and profitable, these statistics show that up to the present nine tobac. o-raising has been a merely local interest.

countips of Kenosha, Grant, Iowa and I.aFayette. Of flax fibre, Kenosha county raised in 1869, nearly four fiftiis of the entire amount grown in the state, the total being 497,398 pounds. With the high price of labor and the low price of cotton now ruling, it is scarcely possible to make the raising of flax fibre profitable. Flax seed is raised to a small extent in the other counties mentioned. The present [irice of oil makes this a fairly profitable crop. If farmers fully appreciated that in addition to the oil, the oil cake is of great value as a food for cattle and sheep, and also that the manure made by the animals eating it, is of three times the value of th.it made by animals fed upon corn, doubtless much more flax seed would be raised than is at present. American oil-cake finds a rt;ady market in England, at prices which [lay well for its exportation. If English farnlcr^ can afford to carry food for their stock so far, American farmers may well strive to ascertain if ihcy can afford to allow the ex[)ortation of so valuable food. When greater attention is paid ill our own country ti:j tlie quality of the manure made by our stock, more oil-cake will be fed at home, and a much smaller proiiortion of that made here will be exported.

The amount of maple sugar produced diminishes as the settlement of the state increases, and is now scarcely sufficient in amount to be an item in the state's productions. The increase in the price of sugar from 1S61 to 1S6S caused many farmers to try sorghum raising. But the present low ])rices of this staple has caused an abandonment of the enterprise. Two attempts have been made in Wisconsin to manufacture beet-root sugar, the first at Fond du Lac in 1S67 tlie second at Tlack Hawk, Sauk county, in 1S70. The Fond du Lac company removed their works to California in 1S69, not having been successful in their efl'orts. The Black Hawk com- ]iany made, in 1S71, more than 134,000 pounds of sugar, but ha\e since abandoned the business. Both these failures may be attributed to several causes, first of v.hich was the want of sufficient capital to build and carry on a factory sufficiently large to enable the work to be done economically ; secondly, the difficulty of sufficiently interesting farmers in the business to induce them to raise beets on so large a scale as to v/arrantthe building of such a factory; and, thirdly, the high price ot labor and the low price of sugar. The quality of beets raised was good, the polarization test showing in many instances as high as sixteen per cent, of sugar. The larger proDortion of hay made in the state is from tlie natural meadows, the low lands or marshes, where wild grasses grow in abundance, and hay only costs the cutting and curing. Cultivated grasses do well throughout the state, and " tame hay " can be made as easily here as elsewhere The limestone soils, where timber originallv grew, are of the ujiiands, most natural to grass, and, consequently, furnish the richest meadows, and yield the best pasturage. Ye e only soils where grasses do not readily grow, are those which are so sandv and dr\' as to be nearly barrens. Clover grows throughout the state in the greatest luxuriance. There is occasionally a season so drv as to make seeding down " a failure, and u[)on light soils clover, when not covered with snow, is apt to Yet it is gaining in favor with farmers, botli on account of the valuable pasturage and hay it affords, and on account of its \-alue as a soil renovatur. In wheat-gro\\ ing regions, clo\ er i^ now recognized to be of the greatest value in a "' rotation," on account of its ameliorating inlluence Ujion the soil. Throughout the stocV; and dairy regions, clover is depended upon to a large extent for pasturage, and to a less extent for hay.

There has been a growing interest in stock r.iising for the past ten years, although the increase has not been a rajiid one. Many of the h.erds of pure-blood cattle in the state rank high t"or their great excellence. The imiirovement i.if horses has been less rapid than that of cattle, sheep, and swine; yet this important branch of stock farming is improving each year. The most attention is given to the inipro\ement of drauglit and farin horses, while roadsters and fast horses are not altogether neglected. There are now owned in the state a large number of horses of the heavier English and French breeds, which are imparting to their i)rogeny their own characteristics of excellence, the effects of which are already visible in many of the older regions of the state. Of the different breeds of cattle, the Short-horns, the Ayrshires, the Devons, and the Jerseys are well represented. The Short-horns have met with most favor with the general farmer, the grades of this breed being large, and possessing in a high degree the quiet habits and readiness to fatten, so characteristic of the full-bloods. Without doubt, the grade Short-horns will continue in the high favor in which they are now held, as stock-raising becomes a more important branch of the husbandry of the state. Of pure blood Short-liorus there are inan_\- lierdb, some of which are of the very highest excellence. .-Vt the public sales of herds from this state, tlie prices have ranked high universally, and in a few cases have reached the highest of "fancy" prices, showing the estimate jilaced by professional breeders upon the herds of Wisconsin. The Ayrshires are increasing in numbers, and are held in high esteem by many dairymen. They are not yet, however, as generally disseminated over the state, as their great merit as a milking breed would warrant. The rapid growth of the dairy interest will doubtless increase their numbers greatly, at least as grades, in the dairying region. Of [lure bred Devons and Jerseys, there are fewer than of the former breeds. The Litter are principally kept in towns and cities to furnish milk for a single family. The I'ullowing table shows the relative imijortance of stock raising in the state for the years mentioned. The figures are an additional proof to those already given, that the grain industry has held sway in 'Wisconsin to the detriment of oilier branches of farming, as well as to tlie state's s-rcatest increase in wealth.

Cattle I Land

The growth and present condition ot sheep husbandry, compare much more favorably with the general development of the state th.on does that of cattle raising. In a large degree this mav be accounted for by the impetus gi\en to wool raising during our civil war by the scarcityof cotton, and the necessary substitution to a great extent, of woolen fur cotton goods. This great demand for wool for manufacturing piur|'0ses jjroduced a rapid rise in the price of this staple, making its production a very piufitable branch of farming, ^\'ith the close of the war came a lessened demand, and consequently lower prices. Yet at no time has the price of wool fallen below that at which it could be profitably produced. This is the more notably true when the value of sheep in keeping up the fertility and productiveness of land, is taken into account. The foregoing table shows tile improvement in this branch of husbandry since 1S50

Although many more siiefp might profitably be kept in the stale, the abo\'e llgures show that the w<)ol interest is fairly developed and the average weight of fleece is an assurance of more than ordinarily good stock. The tlne-w ooled sheep and cheir grades predominate, although there are in the state .seine excellent stock of long-wools - mostly Cotswold - and of Southdowns.

Of all tlie agricultural interests of the state, no other has made as rapid growth during the List ten years, as h.is tliat of d.iirving. \\ith the failure of hop-growing, began the growth zf the I'actory system of batter and cheese making, and the downfall of the one was scarcely more rapid than has been the u[>building of the other. The following statistics of the production of butter and cheese illustrate this rapid progress. It will be remembered that for the years 1S50, iS6o, and 1870 the statistics are from the U. S. census, and hence include all the butter and cheese made in the state, while for the rcinaining years, only that made by factories and professional dairymen as reported to the secretary of the State Dairymen's Association, is included It has been found impossible to obtain the statistics of batter, except for the census years.

Butter

The quality of Wisconsin dairy products is excellent, as may be judged by the fact that, at the Centennial Exhibition, AVisconsin cheese received twcrity awards, a larger number than was given to any other state except NeNv York, and for butter AVisconsin received fi\e awards. No state received more, and only New York and Illinois received as manv. Wisconsin received one award for each fourteen cheeses on exhibition No other state received so large a proportion. New York received the largest number of awards, \lz., twenty-one, but only secured one award for each thirty cheeses on exhibition. The number of cheese and butter factories is increasing eich year, and there is being made in the better grazing regions of the state, as rapid a transition from grain to dairy-farming as is consistent with a healthful growth. This interest, which is now iin important one in the state's industrial economy, has before it a promising future, both in its own development, and in its indirect influence ujion the improvement of the agriculture of the state.

The history of the earlier attempts in fruit raising in Wisconsin would be little more than a record of failures. 1'he pioneers planted apple, peach, plum, and cherry trees, but they gathered little or no fruit. As v,as natural, they planted those varieties that were known to do well in the older states of the same latitude. Little was known of the climate, and there was no apparent reason why those varieties should not do well here. The first orchards died The same varieties were replanted, and again the orchards died. Gradually, through the costly school of experience, it was learned that the climate was different from that of the eastern states, and that to succeed here varieties of fruit must be such as were adapted to the peculiar climate of this state. These peculiarities ate hot, and for the most part, dry summers, cold and dry winters. The dryness of tiie climate has been tlie greatest obstacle to success, as this is indirectly the cause of the great extremes of temperature experienced here. The summers are ot'ten so drv that the growth of tlie treca is not completed, and the wood sufficiently well ripened to enable it to withstand the rigors of winter. And the clear, dry atmospliere of winter allows the sun's rays to pass through it so unobstructcdly as to warm tiie body of the tree upon the sunny side, above the freezing point, even though the temperature of the air is much lower. Tiie alternate thawing and freezing rujjtures the tender cells connecting the bark and wood, producing a complete separation of these parts, and of:en besides bursts the bark. The >ei>aration of bark and wood destroys the circulation of the sap upon that side of the tree, thus enfeebling the entire plant. The tree is not able to form new bark over the ruptured part, and a diseased spot results. Such a plant makes but a feeble growth of poorly ripened wood, and soon dies altogether. Besides the above cause, the extreme cold weather occasionally experienced will kill healthy trees of all varieties not extremely hardy. Notwithstanding these natural obstacles, a good degree of success has been attained in the raising of apples and grapes. This success has been the result of persevering effort upon the part of the horticulturists of the state, who have sought the causes of failure in order that they might be removed or avoided. It is thus by intelligent observation that the fruit growers have gained the experience which brings with it a creditable success. The first requisite to success is the planting of varieties sufficiently hardy to withstand our severe winters. Tiiis has been accorn[ilibIied by selecting the hardiest of the old varieties, and by raising seedlings, having besides hardiness, qualities sufficiently valuable to make them worthy of cultivation. The second requisite to success is in the selection of a situation having suitable soil and exposure, and thirdly, proper care after planting. Among the hardy varieties of apples regarded with greatest favor are Tetofski, Red Astrachan, and Duchess of Oldenberg, all Russian varieties, and Fameuse from Canada. Besides these there are a few American varieties so hardy as to prove reliable in the south half of the state. Among these are a few seedlings that have originated in Wisconsin. .\]iple trees arc less apt to be injured by the winter upon a site sloijing to the northeast or norili, where they arc less directly exposed to the rays of the winter's sun. Higli ground is much better than low, and a good, stron-, not too rich soil is best. .\pples do better upon soils where timber originally grew than on the [jrairies, and they are grown more easily along the border of Lake Michigan than in the interior of the state. Pears are raised to but a slight extent, as only a few of the hardiest varieties will succeed at all, and these only in favorable situations. Grapes are grown in great abundance, and in great perfection, although not of the more tender varieties. The Concord, on account of its hardiness and excellent bearing qualities, is cultivated mo-,t generally. Xext to this comes the Delaware, while many other varieties, both excellent and prolific, are raised with great ease. The season is seldom too short to ripen the fruit well, and the only precaution necessary to protect the vines during the winter is a covering of earth or litter. Cranberries grow spontaneously upon many marshes in the interior of the state. Within a few ) ears considerable attention has been given to imjiroving these marshes, and to the cultivation of this most excellent fruit. Doubtless within a fe-.v years the cranlierry crop wiil be au important one among the fruit productions of the state. .Ml of the small fruits adapted to this latitude are cultivated in abundance, and very successfully, the yield being often times exceedingly large, .\hogether, the horticultural interests of the state are improving, and there is a bright prospect that in the near future fruit growing will not be looked upon with the distavor witli which it has been regarded heretofore.

Of the associations for advancing the agricultural interests of the state, the first organized was the "State Agricultur.d Society." Tiie earliest efforts to establisli such an organization were made at Madison in December, 1S46, daring the session of the first constitutional convention of the territory. A constitution was adopted, but nothing further was done. In February, 1849^ anotlicr meeting was held in Madison, at wiiich it wa< '' Resolved, That in view of tr.e great importamrc of agriculture in the west, it is expedient to form a state agricultural society in \\'isconsin." Another constitution was adopted, and officers were elected, but no effectual organi.'cation resulted from this second attempt. The " Wisconsin State Agricultural Society" - the jiresent organization - had its inception in a nteeting held at Madison, Marcli S, 1S51, at wiiich a cominittee v. as ajjpointed to report a constituti'in and by-!aus, and to nominate persons to fill the various otttces ot said society. .\t its organization, tile society was composed of annual nienibevs, who paid one (.itillar dues each }'ear, and of life members, who, Uf'on the payment of ten dollars, were exempt from the annu.d contribution. The annual membership was afterward abolished, and in 1S69 the fee constituting one a life member was raised to twenty dollars. The first annual fair of the society was held in J.ines\ille, in October, 185 1 Fairs have been held annually since, except during the years iS6i, 1S62 and 1S63. In 1S51 premiums were paid to the amount of only Si 40, while at the present time they amount to nearly C;io,ooo. In 1S51 there were five life members. .-Vt the present time there are over seven hundred, representing all the vaiious industries of the state. T lie fairs held under the auspices of this society have been of excellent character, and liave been fruitful of good to all the industries of the state, but more especially to the farmers. The state has been generous in aid of this society, having furnished commodious rooms for its use in the capitui building, prmtcd the annual report of the secretary, a volume of about 500 pages, and donated annually, lor many years, $2,000 toward its support. Besides its annual fairs, for tlie past five years there has been held an annual convention, under the auspices of this society, for the reading and discussing of papers upon topics of interest to farmers, and for a gener.il interchange of ideas relating to farming. These conventions are held in high esteem by the better class of farmers, and have added greatly to the usefulness of the society. The " Wisconsin State Horticultural Society" was originally tlie '' ^\'isconsin State Fruit Growers' .Association," which was organized in December, 1853, at \\'hiteu-ater. Its avowed object was "tlie collecting, arranging, and disseminatingfacts interesting to those engaged in the culture uf fruits, and to embody for their use the results of the practice and experiments of fruit growers in all parts of the state." Exhibitions and conventions of the association were held annually up to 1S60, after which the society was disorganized, owing to the breaking out of the war of the rebellion A volume of " Transactions " was published by the association in 1S55. In 1S59 its transactions were published with those of the state agricultural society. From 1S60 to 1S65 no state horticultural association was in existence. In September of the latter year the '' Wisconsin Fruit Growers' Association " was reorganized as the "'Wisconsin State Horticultural Society.'' The legislature had [neviously provided for t!ie publication of the i)roceeding3 of such a society, in connection with those of the State Agricultural Society. The new society has held annual exhibitions, usually in connection with those of the State Agricultural Society, and annual conventions for the reading of papers upon, and the discussion of, horticultural subjects. In 1S71 an act was])assed by the legislature incorporating the society, and providing for the separate printing of 2,000 copies annually of its transactions, of which there are now seven volumes. The most active, intelligent, and persevering of the horticulturists of the state are members of this association, and to their careful observation, to their enthtisiasm and determined persistence in seeking means to overcome great natural difficulties, the state is largely indebted for the success already attained m liorticulture. Besides these state associations, there are many local agricultural and horticultural societies, all of which have been iiset'ul in aiding the cause for which they were organized. Farmeis' clubs and granges of the "Patrons of Husbandry" have also done much, both directly and indirectiv, to promote the industrial interests of the state. By theifrequent meetings, at winch discussions are held, views com[iared, and ex[ieriencei related, much valuable intelligence is gained, thought is stimulated, and the jjrofession of farming ad\anced. As agriculture, like all kindred professions, depends upon intelligence to direct its advancement, all means intended to stimulate thought among farmers will, if wisely directed, :ud in ad\'ancing tliis most comi>lex of all industries. To those above namtd, and to other like associations, is in a large degree to be attributed the present fa\orable condition of the agriculture of the state.

Wisconsin is yet, con'paratively, a new State. It v.as mainly settled by men who had little moneyed cajntal. Markets were distant, and means of transportation poor. The early settlers had coiisequcntly to struggle fiir a li\eliliood in the face of the greatest difficulties. When these opposing circumstances are taken into account, and the improvement in methods of culture, and changes from grain to stock and dairy-farming that are now being made, are given their due weight, it must be acknowledged that the present condition of the agriculture of the state is excellen\ and that the future of this most important industry is rich in promise of a steady, healthful growth, toward a completer development of all the agricultural resources of the state.

Mineral Resources

The useful mineial materials that occur within the limits of the state of Wisconsin, come under both of the two grand classes of such substances : the mclaHic o/rs, from which the metals ordinarily used in the arts are extracted ; and the n.^n-r/tctallic subslajiccs, whicii are used in the arts for the most part \vitliout any preliminary treatment, or at least undergo only a very partial alteration before being utilized. Of the first class are found in Wisconsin the ores of Icail, zinc, iron and cot-pcr, besides minute traces of the precious metals; of the second class, the principal substances fiund are bricl;-cl.z\. kaoiiii^ceiK;nt-ro,:k,!imestonc for burning into qiiick-lime, limestone for f.ux, glass sand, peat and piti/dirg stone.