Ill 



be effected. Oue case in point : Mr. A., a number of years ago, was always in the habit 

 of putting up about. 100 tons of hay. This took four men for a period of four weeks, 

 at a cost of §130 and board. This year he put up 118 tons, using a good mower and 

 steel-tooth rake, with two men and oue boy, in a period of two weeks, at a cost of $48 

 and board. Of course his team was engaged all the time, but in the former case his 

 team was engaged half the time in stacking. Dodge : Harvesters are used to a great 

 extent, and many farmers secure a wheat crop of from 1,000 to 1,500 bushels with the or- 

 dinary help required on the farm the season through. Watonwan : The method is the most 

 slovenly imaginable. Wheat follows wheat year after year, in some cases for fifteen 

 years in succession. All the improved fixrm-raachinery is used, for which the farmers 

 go in debt, and when not in use let it " lie around," so that by the time it is paid for it 

 is worthless, and again go in debt for more. Many of the first settlers are selling out, 

 and their places are being supplied with a better class of farmers. Waseca : The use 

 of harvesters for cutting grain and mowers for cutting grass saves not only 100 per 

 cent, iu labor, but more than that in expense ; and then plowing early in the fall and 

 plowing deep in ridges, and sowing early, increases the crop nearly 50 per cent. Sibley : 

 No farmers here, only robbers of the soil. Fillmore: Gradual improvement every 

 year. Chijjpeiva : Less machinery bought of agents. Dour/las : More rotation ; mixed 

 husbandry; farmers' clnbs. Martin: Improved tillage. Jackson: Economy of labor ; 

 more machinery. Le Sueur : Nothing important. Sherburne : More attention to 

 manure. ]\'oble\- None. Crow Wing : More culture on less land. 



low X.— Cherokee: Improved harvesters and corn-planters. Tama: Improved har- 

 vesters. i7rt«cof A- ; None visible. 4 "f?«&0" • Too much in the old way. Hardin : Bet- 

 ter shelter for live stock : increased fruit-culture ; better implements. Buena Vista : 

 Verv little. Buchanan: Progress slow. Jasper: More economy; labor becoming more 

 intelligent and reliable. Guthrie: Labor-saving machinery. Allamakee: Improved 

 tillage and general intelligence. Jackson : Grinding and cooking of graiu fed to stock. 

 Focahonlas : Increased amount of machinery ; too often bought on credit. Einggold: 

 None worthy of mention. Mitchell : Ellbrts to introduce mixed •^husbandry ; more 

 attention to' stock-raising ; dogs still restrict sheep husbandry; cheese-factories are 

 springing up very numerously. Calhoun : The community are beginning to buy more on 

 the cash principle, and they thereibre buy more sparingly ; they are beginning to seek 

 and to get the best kinds of seeds and improved stock. Fayette : There has been some 

 improvement as regards the rotation of crops. Taylor : A strong effort being made to 

 get out of debt, and do on less until things are paid for. A greater degree of atten- 

 tion paid to the cultivation of the different grasses and ft-uits; comfortable dwellings 

 and barns are springing up throughout the county. Jefferson : A greater care is 

 manifest to keep laud in a good condition. Farmers begin to realize the fact that 

 something must be done to maintain the fertility of the soil, and there is an effort 

 made to feed as much as possible of what is raised upon the farm. Jackson: 

 Grinding and cooking the grain fed to cattle and hogs, and also the cooking of 

 many of the bulbous roots before feeding. The practice is also being adopted of 

 saving and applying fertilizers to the land. Bremer : Perbaps in no ten years (prior 

 to the last two) of the world's history have those engaged in agriculture made so much 

 advancement iu knowledge relating to the business affairs of life. Floyd: A strong 

 evidence of advancement is from the fact of farmers turning their attention more to the 

 raising of stock, in place of continually raising wheat. Carroll : The more general in- 

 troduction of new and improved implements of agriculture. Iowa : Improved machin- 

 ery, rotation of crops, and better and more systematic cultivation ; also the purchase 

 and introduction of improved stock. Grundy : But little advance is shown. The farm- 

 ers burn their straw, to get it out of the way for the next crop. 



Misaov Ri.^Caldwell : The great increase of agricultural papers, which are freely 

 subscribed for and read, and the remarkable increase in numbers of the patrons of hus- 

 bandry. Gasconade: A growing disposition to substitute horse-power for human 

 muscles ; the better cultivation of the various crops, including manuring, plowing, 

 and harvesting ; better system of rotation, and a more general adaptation of the 

 means on hand to the ends iu view. . Lawrence : An effort to cultivate the same 

 amount of ground in a better manner, raise more grain to the acre, &c. ; also an 

 attempt to secure the productions of the soil iu a better shape than formerly ; the 

 building of better barns and farm buildings generally. Clinton: A desire to use im- 

 proved machinery and tocultivate less land, and to produce the same amount of crop. 

 Washington : Much attention has been paid to barn-buildiug for the protection of stock 

 and safety of farm-products; manures are carefully saved and judiciously applied, and 

 interest is felt in the procuring of the best fertilizers for renewing worn-out or exhausted 

 land. Feynolds : But little systematic farming ; there is not a single seed-drill in the 

 county. Dallas : From the appearance of the farms it is evident an advance has been 

 made ; there is more system and skill displayed in farming ; the farmers are beginning 

 to realize the fact that there is something more than hard work necessary to success- 

 ful farming, and for this purpose they are using their brains more. Daviess : Much of 

 our wheat is put in with a drill and rolled afterward, audit is nearly all cut with reap- 



