GENERAL AGRICULTURE AND CLIMATE. 
57 
CHAPTER VI. 
\ 
GENERAL AGRICULTURE AND CLIMATE. 
HISTORY. 
As was the case in a large number of Wisconsin comities, 
the development of Agriculture in Outagamie County was pre¬ 
ceded by the logging and lumbering industries. 
The first settlement in what is now Outagamie County was 
made about 1843 by Father Van Der Broeck who had been mis¬ 
sionary to the Indians of the region for a number of years. He 
was instrumental in bringing a colony of Dutch immigrants 
who located at Little Chute. During this same year, the first 
buildings were erected in Appleton. The first farms opened 
after the advance of the lumbermen were small tracts, and often 
large areas of land remained in the cut-over stage for a con¬ 
siderable time before being parceled out in small farms. 
As the timber was first removed from the region adjoining 
the Fox River, agricultural development had its beginning also 
in this region. 
The crops which were grown by the early settlers were chiefly 
those which were used for home, or, at least, local consumption, 
and consisted largely of wheat, corn, potatoes, hay, root crops, 
etc. The methods which were at first followed were crude and 
no attempts were made, to follow any definite system of rota¬ 
tion or cultivation. Throughout the Fox River Valley the soils 
are of a heavy nature, and cultivation is more difficult than on 
the lighter soils. Cultural operations were not thorough. At 
times the ground was scratched only a little before grain was 
planted. 
While nearly all of the merchantable timber has been re¬ 
moved from this county and a large proportion of the land 
placed under cultivation, there are still some sections which 
have considerable undeveloped land. The section least de\ el¬ 
oped is confined to the northeastern part of the county which 
