378 REPOET OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



Lead and zinc have been found at various points, and in some localities 

 mining bas been prosecuted with energy. Bituminous coal of good 

 quality has been found, and mines are worked to some extent. The pro- 

 duction at Osage City, Scrantou, Burlingame, and Carbondale in 1875 

 was estimated at ll!3,4U0 tons. 



The secretai y gives the production of cotton in the State in 1874 at 

 89,729 pounds, and in 1875 at 325,825 pounds, an increase during the 

 year of 236,096 pounds, or 203 per cent. The crop of flax-seed in 1874 

 was 174,698 bushels ; in 1875, 273,166 bushels, or an increase of 156 per 

 cent. The cheese product in 1870 was 226,607 pounds ; in 1875, 1,240,610 

 pounds, an increase of 447 per cent. Butter, in 1870, 5,022,758 pounds; 

 in 1875, 8,827,810 pounds, an increase of 75 per cent. The increase in 

 the number of milch-cows during the same years has been nearly 100 

 per cent. 



Prof. George E. Patrick, in a paper on the chalk-beds of Kansas, which 

 are of great extent, says : 



Among the possible nses to which this material may be applied, I would mention, as 

 giving the greatest promise of profit, the manufacture of whiting of the various grades 

 for putty, for calcimining, &c., and the manufacture of Portland cement. The latter 

 is a branch of industry not yet established in the United States, and this simply for 

 the reason that in the older States, where such a manufactyre would otherwise have 

 arisen, chalk — an essential in the economical manufacture of this cement — was not to 

 be found. One other essential, and the only other, is clay. Only where these two ma- 

 terials are found in quantity can the manufacture be most profitably carried on; and 

 these conditions are fultilled in this country, as far as our present knowledge extends, 

 only in this State. 



Portland, on account of its vast superiority over our American cements, has in onr 

 growing cities a large sale, which, however, is checked by its high price, consequent 

 upon importation. Its price is from two to five times that of the various American 

 cements. 



MADTE. 



The nineteenth annual report of the State Board of Agriculture, for 

 the year 1874, is a valuable contribution to the agricultural literature of 

 the country. In addition to the transactions of the State Board, the 

 volume cou tains the transactions of the State Pomological Society and 

 returns from a number of district and county associations, the first 

 annual report of the INIaiue Dairymen's Association, and copious sta- 

 tistics relating to the dairy interests of the State. The volume is well 

 bound, and contains over six hundred pages. 



The annunl meeting of the board was held at Wiscasset, on the 10th, 

 11th, and 12th of February, 1874. The pai)ers and lectures given con- 

 tain a fund of scientific and practical information on leading subjects 

 in agriculture, which must do much toward guiding the work of the 

 farm to better and more satisfactory results. Aside from the many 

 valuable and suggestive papers presented by members of the board, 

 which cover a variety of subjects and embrace the results of much 

 thought and practical experience, the lectures given by men who hold 

 high lank in agricultural science from other States, and who were 

 ])resent, will be found full of important information on the subjects 

 treated. 



During the current year the State and local agricultural societies and 

 farmers' clubs held successful exhibitions, and great unanimity was 

 manifested on the part of all interested in carrying forward the work 

 in which they were engaged. 



Of the thirty-four cheese-factory companies incorporated during the 

 winter, less than one-half went into operation, making, with the twenty- 



