666 WINNEBAGO COUNTY, WISCONSIN. 



rotten and dry, can not be burned out. Maple and elm burns 

 the most readily, while oak seldom burns out with a single fire. 

 When a stump was burned to the ground I could remove the 

 stove, and lay a chunk on the embers, which would retain the 

 fire and eat its way down to the dirt. In this way I made all 

 my rubbish useful. In respect to dynamite, I have corre- 

 sponded with the agents for its sale until I have learned that it 

 is too expensive to be used with us. There are places where it 

 may pay. It might be just the thing to hoist some of the more 

 refractory fellows, but we always have time as an element in 

 our favor ; all that we need is patience. I have indicated 

 many ways in which their periods may be shortened. Where 

 their number is reduced to three or four solid old oaks to the 

 acre, I begin to think of dynamite, but it is not probable that 

 I shall ever use it. I fear it might hoist the wrong object. 



ELI STILSON, 



OSHKOSH, WINNEBAGO COUNTY. 



Spring Wheat — Drainage — Fertilizers — Short-Horns — Sheep. 



My farm consists of eight hundred and forty acres, north 

 of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and between Lake Winnebago on the 

 east and Fox river on the west, both less than a mile distant 

 from tlie farm. When I settled on the farm it was about one- 

 half prairie and one-half burr oak openings, only slightly 

 rolling, and underlaid with red clay containing lime gravel. 

 The whole surrounding country gives evidence of drift forma- 

 tion. The red clay, with a small mixture of lime gravel, often 

 crops out in the openings, while on much of the prairie it can 

 be reached with deep plowing. It is rich in the elements to 

 grow wheat and clover, and the close texture of the subsoil 

 prevents leaching. 



DRAINAGE. 



But the close subsoil, and only slightly rolling surface, 



