PREFACE. 
Whatever its faults and deficiencies,—and we are aware 
that it has both,—we send out this volume in the confident 
hope that the great variety and substantial value of its con¬ 
tents will commend it to the favor not only of those who de¬ 
sire reliable information concerning the various practical sub¬ 
jects therein discussed, but of all persons in anyway interested 
in the industrial growth and prosperity of Wisconsin. 
In the preparation of our own report upon the condition and 
progress of the State, great pains have been taken, by a pro¬ 
tracted and laborious examination of the United States census 
returns, the use of which was kindly granted us by the Secre¬ 
tary of State, and by appeals to other public, and many pri¬ 
vate, sources of information, not only to make a document en¬ 
tirely worthy of public confidence, as authority on matters 
of fact, but also, by a logical and suggestive statement of the 
facts thus collected, to indicate the way to still greater im¬ 
provement. 
Under the head of u Essays” and “ Communications, " the 
reader will find matter of great value. The illustrated paper 
on American Butter Factories and Butter Manufacture, by 
Prof. X. A. Willard, A. M., of New York, is alone worth to 
the public far more than the cost of the whole volume. The 
first portion of it was published, in much the same form, by 
the Royal Agricultural Society of England, in their Journal 
for 1870. The remainder is an entirely new contribution to 
this volume. The author has given many years to the ad¬ 
vancement of the dairy business in this country, and, under a 
commission from the American Dairymen’s Association, has 
also devoted much time to its study in foreign countries. In 
view of the high opinion entertained of his investigations and 
