11 
ANNUAL REPORT—AGRICULTURE. 
I 
This is partly due, of course, to the peculiarity of Wisconsin 
lands, which are much more easily subdued than those of the 
less well drained and heavily timbered states, and yet which, 
in the vast pineries of the northern and unimproved portions, 
possess the means of building fences, barns and buildings at a 
less cost and of a more pleasing kind than is possible in most 
other districts of country. 
Whatever the explanation, it is worthy of note that farm 
improvements in Wisconsin present a much more attractive 
appearance than those of Ohio, Indiana and many other states. 
The rule of making neat fences, good-looking and convenient 
barns, and tasteful farm-houses having once been adopted, 
there is a tendency to still further improvement. 
The total valuations of taxable property in the state, 
including lands and all improvements, in 1860 and 1870, as 
assessed and equalized, were: 
1860. 1870. 
Valuation as assessed.$152,537,700 $326,765,238 
Valuation as equalized by state board. 168, 620, 233 455, 900, 800 
[For details of valuation see Appendix “ A ” at the end of volume.] 
The working of the soil is probably neither more nor less 
thorough here than elsewhere—unless comparison be made 
with some of the best agricultural states east, where the half- 
exhausted condition of the soil has driven the farmer to 
deeper plowing, more frequent manuring and more careful 
cultivation of crops. 
It is a source of gratification, however, that even upon our 
new and fertile lands, the opinion is gaining ground that 
thoroughness will pay better than that slackness of habit into 
which our first settlers fell. Drainage, the preservation and 
use of straw instead of burning it or leaving it to the slow pro¬ 
cess of decay in unsightly heaps, more thorough plowing, har¬ 
rowing and rolling—these are the signs of better times. 
There are some lessons, nevertheless, the importance of 
which, though oft repeated through the medium of agricul¬ 
tural journals, and urged in the publications of this society, a 
