COUNTY REPORTS. 317 



cure for us the object we are seeking for, viz, a comfortable liv- 



ing. 



Another important branch connected with forming is the rais- 

 ing of stock. This branch, I am persuaded, the farmers of Wis- 

 consin have too much neglected. It is true that the show of cat- 

 tle, horses and sheep here to-day is encouraging. It indicates 

 that there are farmers among us who are pursuing the right 

 course to improve their stock; yet there is manifestly among 

 farmers generally, a carelessness respecting this matter. I have 

 kept a flock of sheep, from which I did not get yearly, seventy- 

 five cents worth of wool per head ; while some of my neighbors 

 got from theirs twic^ that amount, and it cost no more to keep 

 theirs than mine. Now, gentlemen, although I have not had 

 much experience in this depiirtment of farming, yet I am persua- 

 ded that we can get a grade of sheep from which, if they are 

 well kept, will be sheared a yearly avei-age of from $1,75 to 

 $2.00 worth of wool per head; and that these sheep are as hardy 

 and as easily wintered as any other. Then have we been com- 

 mitting a serious error in keeping such flocks as we have kept. 

 And what is true of sheep is true of all other kinds of stock — the 

 better the animal the better he pays the keeper. But time will 

 not permit me to speak of each separately. 



A comfortable living necessarily includes fruit and garden 

 vegetables; and we may say a few words about this class of 

 products. You will all admit the convenience of having fruit, 

 and the necessity of prompt and early action in setting out fruit 

 trees, so as to secure these luxuries ; but many have become 

 discouraged because nature seems to have thrown some obstacles 

 in the way of our success. It is true that the peach, the quince, 

 the larger varieties of the cherry, and some other of the richer 

 fruits, may not bear the severity of the winter, but the apple 

 the pear, the plum, and many other kinds of the most useful 

 fruit, seem well adapted to oui- climate and soil, and usually 

 yield an abundant crop. The cold last winter being more severe 

 than usual, killed a few trees in some orchards ; yet, as this 

 never happened before since the white man first built his cabin 

 on our prairies, we must not look for its recurrence. Perhaps 



