ANNUAL REPORT—AGRICULTURE. 
17 
ing states; $22,790,128.20 is a handsome sum of money, by 
itself considered, and it makes a fine showing inlhe aggregates 
of the productive industries of the state ; but we submit that 
it is not so large a sum to realize from the laborious cultivation 
and gradual impoverishment of over two and a half million 
acres of land as to awaken great enthusiasm in the breast of 
any sensible farmer. 
We feel bound, therefore, to reiterate our oft-repeated pro¬ 
test against so absurd an agricultural policy, and urge again 
upon the farmers of Wisconsin that they should carefully con¬ 
sider the advantages of a more diversified system. 
RYE. 
Where wheat succeeds so well it is natural that rye should 
receive much less attention. It is a crop well adapted to light 
sandy soils in any of the northern states, but, owing to the 
superior value of its straw, will pay best in the neighborhood 
of large cities. New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania 
produce nearly or quite as much as all the other states put 
together. In New England also, it is an important crop, al¬ 
though the aggregate product is not large. 
The totals of the rye crop of Wisconsin in 1859 and 1869, 
as shown by the United States census returns of 1860 and 
1870, were as follows: 
Bnshels. 
1859 . 888, 544 
1869. 1,856,736 
This shows a very slight increase for a period of ten years. 
The crop of 1870 was a light one, as compared with that of 1860 
when, according to the state census, it amounted to 1,659,998 
bushels—probably the largest crop ever produced in the state. 
The prices ranged between 68 and 90 cents per bushel ; the 
average lor the year being from 75 to 80 cents. 
OATS 
Made a poor yield in 1870, owing to the early drouth throug- 
out the United States, and especially in Wisconsin. The defi- 
