MISCELLANEOUS ADDRESSES. 
261 
In the cultivation of farm crops, we are considerably advanced 
beyond the practice when the Dane County Society was first or¬ 
ganized, as we are likewise in orcharding and gardening. But 
the number is still legion of those who continue in the old rut 
made by their fathers, who ignore the value of manures and hoot 
at, or at least disregard, the theory of rotation—who deny the 
importance of deep plowing, and rolling and pulverizing accord¬ 
ing to the season and soil —who can see no advantage in under¬ 
draining for the orchard, if indeed they are enterprising enough to 
have an;y orchard — and who either have no gardens, or at best a 
dismal weedy patch, the cultivation of which is wholly left to 
the “ women folks,” already overtasked by the laborious round of 
cooking, house-cleaning, washing, butter making and family sew¬ 
ing, etc., etc. 
To sum it all up in a few words — for I must not detain you 
much longer—we are still as a farming community, far short of 
the most creditable or the most economical practices. This dis¬ 
play ol the products of the farm, the orchard, the vineyard, the 
dairy, the garden and work shop is indeed truly excellent, doing 
credit alike to the industry and skill of the producer, and to his 
enterprise in bringing them in such condition and quantity to this 
our annual fair. But it should not be forgotten that these are but 
samples of the best of our products. It is the cream that natur¬ 
ally rises to the surface on such occasions. 
If these comments on our farm management are not flattering 
to our pride, they are none the less deserved. It would be much 
more gratifying to me to have used only words of commenda¬ 
tion, but I have deemed it my duty, as the official head of a soci¬ 
ety organized for the purpose of correcting the faults of our in¬ 
dustry, to point them out unsparingly. 
On the side of the mechanical industries and of public improve¬ 
ments, I am glad of the opportunity to speak encouragingly. Our 
beautiful county seat is now accessible by rail from as many 
points of the compass as any county seat in the state, and our 
manufacturing industry has received such an impetus as to en¬ 
courage the hope that in the near future, it will figure not incon¬ 
spicuously in the general industry of the country. At present, 
however, it is true that we are even more backward in manufac- 
