788 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTURE. 



Other Grains and Grasses — Land in tame hay and pasturage the 

 past season estimated at eighty-five thousand acres in this county. 



Potatoes — Best in years. 



Apples — Yield and quality the best in the history of this county. 



Other Fruits — Cultivated plums, cherries and grapes yielded the 

 best crop ever raised. Raspberries, strawberries and gooseberries yielded 

 large crops. 



Cattle — Large increase over last year. More cattle will be put into 

 the feed lots than for several years. The dairy business was the most 

 prosperous in years. 



Horses — Heavy demand. Large increase in breeding over last year. 



Swine — Large increase. No disease reported. 



Sheep — Increase in the number raised. Last year there were fed 

 and shipped from this county eighty thousand head of western sheep, and 

 this year there will be from sixty to seventy thousand. 



Poultry — Fully twenty per cent increase over last year in amount 

 raised. 



Drainage — Very little needed, natural conditions being very good. 



Lands — Sales made this season were at prices ranging from sixty to 

 eighty-five dollars per acre. 



Report of Fair — Held at Rock Rapids, September 18-21, being the 

 first annual fair of our organization, the Lyon County Fair and Agri- 

 cultural Society. The weather was very unfavorable, it raining thre§ 

 days out of the four on which our fair was held. The attendance was 

 thirteen thousand, which was very encouraging, considering the weather. 

 We will make some improvements on our grounds the coming year. 



MADISON. 



A. L. FOSTER, WINTERSET, OCTOBER 27, 1906. 



General Condition of Crops and Season — Crops have been generally 

 good, being much better than the general average, except in a few locali- 

 ties where the rainfall was not sufficient. The season, as a whole, was 

 an ideal one, being dry through the month of June, and was exception- 

 ally favorable for the cultivation of the growing crops, killing oS the 

 weeds and putting the ground in excellent condition. 



Corn — Larger acreage than usual, of good quality, being well ma- 

 tured, and would estimate that average yield would be forty-five blishels 

 per acre. Some pieces, where planted on newly broken ground, will 

 yield an average of sixty bushels per acre. 



Oats — Of good quality, and yielded from twenty to forty bushels per 

 acre. Straw was short, but well filled. 



Wheat — Small acreage, but yielded a crop of fair quality. 



Rye — Good in quality, but acreage small. 



Flax, Buckwheat and Millet — None raised. 



Sorghum — Small acreage, but yielded a crop of good quality. 



Timothy — Quality good. A little light in yield, but was put up in 

 good condition. Yielded from one to one and one-half tons per acre. 



