360 [Senate 



I 



AGRICULTURE OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 



BY ANSON S. MILLER. 



Rockford, Winnebago co., Illinois^ September 30, 1844. 



Benj. p. Johnson, Esq'r. 



Cor. Sec. JV. F. State Agr. Soc. 



Dear Sir : — Your circular on behalf of the Executive Committee 

 of the New-York State Agricultural Society is before me ; and I an- 

 swer with pleasure your inquiries, concerning the agriculture of this 

 county. You are aware that Winnebago is one of the newly settled 

 counties of northern Illinois. It is bounded north by Wisconsin Ter- 

 ritory, east by Boone county ; south by Ogle county, and west by 

 ^tephenson county, and a part of Ogle county ; Rock river passes 

 through it nearly from north to south. The Pecaionica and Sugar 

 rivers enter it on the west and northwest; and the Kishwankee on the 

 southeast. Rock river and the Pecatonica are navigable streams ; 

 and all these rivers and their branches abound in water powers for 

 hydraulic purposes. Rockford is the county-seat. The first settle- 

 ment was made in this county, in the autumn of 1835. There was 

 very little agricultural improvement, however, till '37 and '38. In 

 1840, the population numbered 4,609 5 of this number 1,064 were 

 engaged in agriculture. The products of the county for '40 were as 

 follows — wheat, 68,315 bushels; oats. 50,117; corn, 127,377. 

 Stock owned in the county — horses and mules, 1,039; neat cattle, 

 4,711 ; sheep, 894, and swine, 12,374. There has been since '40, 

 a constant and somewhat rapid increase in each of these departments 

 of statistics. Our farmers begin to cultivate large tracts of land. 

 Some have 400 acres' or more under the plow ; and every year the 

 farms are becoming more numerous and extensive. In 1841, the 

 agricultural society of Winnebago county was formed. This society 

 has ever since proved an efficient means in attaining the ends for 

 which it was formed. 



From these facts you can form some estimate of the present condi- 

 tion of agriculture, in a county most of the improvements of which, 

 are not more than five or six years old; and the earliest settlement 

 less than ten years. 



The aspect of this county, is that of the Rock river country gen- 

 erally. The surface is fine rolling prairie, spotted over with groves 

 and fountains, and diversified with the woodlands and dense forests, 

 bordering the rivers and their tributaries. The land is mostly arable. 

 The soil is very fertile, of a dark sandy loam, and well adapted to the 

 growth of grass and grain. Few or no rocks, except in the lime- 



