464 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



years from setting, tlieae trees, if properly cared for, arc worth, at a low estimate, $10 

 each. The fruit produced up to tliis time will, ou an average, pay all expense of care 

 and culture. Hero, then, is a clear gain of ^oO per aero for each year since settiug, ;nid 

 a j)reseut Aalue of $500 i)er acre added to the value of the land. For an orchard of 

 ten acres this Avould give lis -iJioOO yearly increase, and a ])resent value of $5,000 besides 

 the value of the laud. On a farm of 160 acres tliis would give an annual increase of 

 $6,000, and a present value of trees of $6,000. For the next live years these trees 

 ought to yicUl an average of two barrels of apples per year, which, at only $1 per bar- 

 rel, would give an annual iuconie of $100 per acr(>, besides $oO for the growth in value 

 i)f trees. At liftcen years of a<?e we have an orchard Avorth $750 per acre, and ha\o 

 obtained fruit to the vabie of $500. Now, suppose it takes all this to pay expense of 

 care, harvestiug, marketing, &c., we still have built up an orchard Avorth $7,500 for 

 every ten acres so occupied. 



Ill au address before tlie society on the strawberry aud its culture 

 Mr. W. C. Flagg" stated that while the American species of strawberries 

 cross freely among themselves, they cross with difficulty, and fre- 

 quently not at all, with Eiu^opean species. Even upon Eiu^opean ground 

 they have x)roved so superior in many respects to the Euroi)ean sorts 

 that they have rejilaced them in the gardens aud markets of the Old 

 World. 



Report of 1871'. — The fourteeuth annual report of the Indiana State 

 Eoard of Agriculture for the year 1872 contains, among other things, 

 the business transsictions of the board, iiroceedings of the convention 

 of short-horn breeders of the State, a list of the premiums offered aud 

 awarded at the State fair, a large amount of interesting agricultural 

 statistics, essays ou various subjects, reports from county and district 

 societies, proceedings of the jSTational Swiue-breeders' Association and the 

 National Convention of Short-horn-cattle Breeders, both of which conven- 

 tions were held in Indianapolis during the year, and, also, the report of 

 Mr. E. T. Cox, State geologist, for the years 1871-72. The two reports 

 combined make 917 pages. 



Mr, J. I). Williams, president of the board, in an address delivered at 

 the January meeting, alludes briefly to the importance of the report of 

 the State geologist, who has completed a thorough survey of" the block 

 coal-fields of Sullivan, Daviess, and Martin Counties, and i^artial sur- 

 veys of other sections of the State. The iron-smelting or block-coal 

 deposits, v/hich had previously been traced from the northern limits of 

 (Treeue County, have been followed along the eastern margin of the 

 field to the Ohio Eiver, making in all an area of about 288,000 acres. 

 The quantity of coal available for market purposes in the three counties 

 surveyed in detail is estim.ated at not less than 8,371,217,910 tons. Ex- 

 tensive deposits of iron-ore are also reported in Martin County, two of 

 which are said to be 30 feet in depth. 



The annual State fair, which opened on the 30th day of September, 

 and continued for six days, was one of the most successful exhibitions 

 ever held in the State. The whole number of entries amounted to over 

 four thousand, about one thousand in excess of the previous year. 

 Much interest was manifested in the live-stock department, and some of 

 the best horses, cattle, sheep, aud hogs in the IJuited States were on 

 exhibition. The animal which attracted most attention was a short- 

 horn Durham heifer, raised aud owned by Messrs. A. C. «&: G. Shrop- 

 shire, of Paris, Kentucky. She is represented as a most beautiful ani- 

 mal, and perfect in every point. Her owners value her at $12,000. 

 Black Eagle, a beautiful animal of the Gray Eagle stock, and owned by 

 the same gentlemen, also attracted much attention. E. L. Cornthwaite, 

 of Wayne Countj', exhibited a span of draught-horses, five years old, 

 whiqji weighed, respectively, 1,781 and 1 ,8-10 pounds. The fair was sue- 



