ANNUAL REPORT—PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURE. 
9 
It is farther confirmed by statistics showing the distribution 
of the population by occupations, with the rate per cent, of in¬ 
crease. 
Let us now inquire into the results of the industry of these 
thousands of farmers, miners, lumbermen, mechanics and mer¬ 
chantmen—into the progress and condition of the several im¬ 
portant state interests they represent. 
THE PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURE. 
Although the industry of Wisconsin is more varied than 
that of some other western states, such as Iowa and Minne¬ 
sota, in which mining, lumbering, manufacturing and inter¬ 
state commerce play an important part, we are nevertheless 
able to show results in agriculture that compare quite favora¬ 
bly, in most respects, with those of the states mentioned, or of 
any other state. 
The progress of agriculture is apparent, first, from the in¬ 
creased number of persons devoted to this pursuit over the 
number so employed in 1860 ; secondly, from the rapidly in¬ 
creasing area and value of land in farms in this state; and 
thirdly, from statistics showing the actual production of suc¬ 
cessive decades. 
The relative areas devoted to agriculture in the years 1850, 
1860 and 1870, were as follows : 
Land in Farms, and the Value thereof. 
Year. 
Acres 
Improved. 
Acres 
Unimproved. 
Total 
in Farms. 
Value. 
1850 . 
1, 045,499 
1,931,159 
2, 977,158 
$28, 528,563 
1860 . 
3, 746,167 
4,147,420 
7,893, 587 
131,117,164 
1870 . 
5, 795, 538 
5, 815, 978 
11, 611,516 
300, 415, 954 
These figures show not only a rapid increase in the number 
of acres of wild lands converted into farms and brought under 
cultivation, but also a still more rapid increase in the value of 
such lands. For, while in 1850, the average value per acre 
was but $8.58, in 1860 it had risen to $16.61, and in 1870 to 
