1G5 



anil wool ^rowing, if not, more profitable in ordinary seasons, will be less likely 

 to be injuriously ejected when such extremes do occur. 



Respectfully yours, 



To Albert C. Ingham, Esq. HIRAM BARBER. 



Sec. of the Wis. State Agr. Society. • 



AGRICULTURE OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY. 



Ceresc'O, December Sth, 185L 



Dear Sir — Your letter of December 1st, askino; for ao-ricultural statistics of 

 the county of Fond du Lac for ptiblication in your aimual report, came duly to 

 hand, and I cheerfully forward you such as I deem useful from my limited re- 

 sources. I shall confine my remarks to the west part of our county, comprising 

 nine townships, which in soil and surface differs materially from the eastern town- 

 ships. Nature seems to have indicated a ditlerence by extending the bed of Lake 

 Winnebago southward, in part dividing ns on the borders of the timber and 

 praiiie. 



Our western portion is mostly diversified, prairie and openings, dry rolling' 

 lands, as well adapted to agriculture as any in the State. It has several small 

 groves of forest timber, but as a whole, is not well timbered. It is well and 

 sufficiently watered, mostly by si)rings, brooks, and small rapid streams of pure 

 water; the largest of which are a branch of Rock River, passing through Spring 

 Valley and Waupun — the two branches of the Fond du Lac stream, one passing 

 south-easterly, and thence north through Lamartin and Oakfield, and the other 

 easterly through Rosendale and Eldorado — and Chrystal Creek, (or the Green 

 Lake inlet,) passing north-westerly through Ceresco, atibrding the best water- 

 powei's in the county — and Grand River, running south-westerly through Meto- 

 mon. Six of the nine towns have already water-powers improved. The soil is 

 an argillaceous loam moderatel}^ mixed with sand and lime, and resting on a thin 

 layer of mountain lime stone much broken and occasionally interspersed with 

 knobs of drift gravel ; underlaying the whole is red sand stone, which occasion- 

 ally crops out in the ravines. On a few of the highest points of the Prairie, 

 mostly in Ceresco and Metomon, the lime stone comes to the surface; and in 

 some of the higher points in the openings the drift appears at the surface. This 

 portion of the county can date the commencement of its settlement in 1844-5, 

 there being only Seymour Wilcox, Peter V. Sang, and two or three other per- 

 sons on the tract previous to that time. In the spring of 1844, the settlement 



