annual Report—Miscellaneous. 
39 
“ While the yield from the land is reasonably large, the profit is 
exceeding small. The field must be plowed, and harrowed and 
fertilized; the corn must be planted ; it must be plowed again ; 
and still again, must be hoed ; and at last the ears must be strip¬ 
ped, husked and ground. What is the net result of this compared 
with the natural increase of fish growth in abundance, almost 
without effort, finding their own food, and finally taken in some 
net which does its fishing while its owner is sleeping ?” 
Fish are so very productive, that if individuals and the legisla¬ 
ture will but use the proper efforts to stock the numerous lakes 
and rivers of the state with those valuable varieties sought after 
for table use, the abundance of pure water may thus be utilized, 
and the food producing power of the state largely increased. 
EPIZOOTY. 
, i 
This pestilence prevailed throughout the state in the months 
of November and December, 1872, few horses escaping the loath¬ 
some disease. Horses kept in warm, well ventilated stables, 
avoiding currents of air, with little or no medicine, and fed upon 
nutritious and laxative food soon recovered. But few died. The 
loss to the state was considerable, particularly in cities and villages, 
where large numbers were used in profitable branches of business. 
Oxen in many instances were substituted, and in some cases, such 
was the demand for labor usually performed by the horse, that 
men hauled loads through the streets upon light wagons. The 
loss of labor in the rural districts was comparatively light, from the 
fact that farm work for the season had closed, and team labor was 
little required at that time # of the year. Had this Epizooty swept 
over the state during the seeding or harvest season, the loss to the 
agricultural community would have been almost incalculable. 
MANURE. 
I wish I had the power to impress upon the tillers of the soil 
the vital importance of carefully saving this valuable nutritive 
substance of all kinds, and of applying it in a judicious manner to 
their land. One cannot but feel sad, as well as sometimes dis¬ 
gusted, in passing through the city, village, and even in the coun¬ 
try, to witness the pestilential gasses escaping into the atmosphere 
