187 



With the best wishes for the continued prosperity and usefuhieas of vour 



Society, and for the advancement of the cause of agricultural improvement, 



I am, as ever, yours truly, 



P. H. SMITH. 

 To Albert C. Ingham, Esq. 



Sec. of the Wis. State Agr. Society. 



AGRICULTURE OF RACINE COUNTY. 



To Albert C. Ingham, Esq. 



Sec. of the Wis. State Agr. Society. 



Racine, January 31st, 1852. 



Dear Sir — Your circular of 1st ult^ desiring me to prepare a paper for the 

 State Agricultural Society, containing " a general account of the agricultural in- 

 terests of Racine County, &c." was duly received. 



My experience as a practical agriculturist having been extremely limited, and 

 nearly every moment of my time and attention being absorbed in matters foreign 

 to that subject, I had hoped that other gentlemen, more competent than myself 

 to supply the desired memoir, of whom there are very many in our county, 

 would have responded to your circular. 



But having received your iawov of the 2d instant, in which you say that I am 

 alone depended on " for information as to that particular matter," I felt that I 

 ought no longer to resist the appeal. I have accordingly devoted snatches of my 

 time during two or three weeks past, to the collection of such random facts and 

 statistics as I have been able to {)ick up by the way. These facts I have endea- 

 vored to arranofe in such order as to afibrd a connected and clear idea of the 

 agricidtural statistics and farming interests of this county ; and have accompanied 

 them with such fugitive ideas in relation to the matter, as have either occurred 

 to my own mind, or been elicited from others during my brief investigations of 

 the subject. 



Area of Racine County. — Under the Territorial organization of Michigan, 

 the district of country now comprising the State of Wisconsin was divided into 

 four counties — Brown and Milwaukee, bounded on the east by Lake Michigan ; 

 and Iowa and Crawford, bordering the Mississippi on the west. A Territorial 

 Government having been organized for Wisconsin on the fourth day of July, 

 1836, its legislatuie, by an act of the 7th of December of that year, divided the 

 county of Milwaukee, and erected therefrom the county of " Kacine," whose 

 limits were thus defined : " Townships numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4 north, of ranges 



