HANCOCK COUNTY SOCIETY. 9 



watered, having numerous rivers, streanas, lake-outlets and "boil- 

 ing springs." 



There are 1,061,200 square acres, more or less, within the 

 county, of which— by estimation — some 42 per cent, are occupied. 

 There are 3,020 farms — 290 of these contain from 3 j;o 10 acres, 

 664 from 10 to 20 acres, 1,290 from 20 to 50 acres, 657 from 50 to 

 100 acres, 119 from 100 to 500 acres. The average size of the 

 farms is 105 acres. There are 19 persons to each square mile, or 

 39 acres to each soul. There are 1,090 families, having an aver- 

 age of little more than 5 persons to each, or a total population of 

 37,157. 



The formers have pursued a mixed husbandry, but the tendency 

 of our cultivation, as shadowed by reliable data, the geographical 

 location of the county, its geological formation, and its natural 

 features, betoken special farming. 



Irredeemable estimates and opinions have divided the attention 

 of our farmers among various productions, those that " pay the 

 way," and those which do not, while golden- facts from which a 

 correct statement of the condition and tendency of our agriculture, 

 can be formed, have been overlooked. Until the organization of 

 this Society, our products — a mixed cargo — might be enumerated 

 in this wise : orchards and oats — beans and beets — sorghum, 

 sheep and shoats — turkeys, tomatoes and turnips — cows, cheese, 

 clover, carrots and cucumbers — horses, hay, hops, hogs and hom- 

 ing' — potatoes, peas and pumpkins — butter, barley, buckwheat, 

 beeswax and babies — the last, a sure crop, wet or dry. The 

 influence of our annual Exhibitions, has been to somewhat amend 

 this kind of farming. Less corn is planted than heretofore ; the 

 season is too short at both ends to make its ripening a certainty. 

 Wheat, which in our boyhood days, was cultivated with consid- 

 erable success, now is rarely attempted. Not one bushel in thirty 

 of the wheat consumed is grown in the county. While the barley, 

 potato and oat crops, have increased in these proportions of from 

 1 to 5 — 5 to 10 — 4 to 5. The annual average of our orchard pro- 

 ducts is estimated at $7,000. This branch of our husbandry is 

 receiving increased attention. The r1)ow of fruit at our Fairs 

 have stimulated to new efforts in orcharding, which with judicious 

 selection of varieties, a fair share of common-sense culture, drain- 

 age and shelter-belts, will not far in the future, make the apple a 

 staple product of Hancock county. 



