406 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
prairies with posts for fencing. Posts are worth from three to ten cents 
each. Large quantities are also rafted down from the Wolf river. 
The climate is very fair, rather dry; at times very hot in summer, and 
pretty sharp in winter. The winters are generally of an even character, 
the thermometer mostly ranging above zero; thaws not very common. But 
some winters are very severe, say once in about eight or ten years, when 
the thermometer will go down as low as 20 degs., and even lower for two or 
three days at a time. It is extremely salubrious; chill and ague fevers are 
entirely unknown; those persons who brought them here from other sec¬ 
tions were very soon free from them. Snows rarely exceed six inches in 
depth. 
It is not thought desirable, in an article of this kind, which is intended to 
be rather descriptive than statistical, to go into the details of various farm¬ 
ing operations. It is well knovvn that real tirst-rate farm managers are 
rare, mostly owing to the high price of farm labor as compared with the 
returns derived from it. Assuming that, as a class, the' farmers of Fond du 
Lac co unty are neither better nor worse than their bretliren of other sec¬ 
tions of our state, we will simply state what we conceive to be the usual 
averages, premising that we can hardly doubt that they could be easily in¬ 
creased by from 50 to 100 per cent, with more careful cultivation and great¬ 
er expenditures in labor and fertilizing materials, as well as by judicious 
and systematic rotation of crops: Wheat, 16 to 24 bushels; com 40 to 50; 
rye, 20 to 25; oats, 35 to 50; barley, 25 to 32; potatoes, 100 to 120. This esti¬ 
mate on potatoes does not take into the account the depredations of that 
late pest, the Colorado bug, which last year almost entirely ruined the crop. 
The cultivated grasses, especially with the use of plaster, yield from two 
to two and one-lialf tons for timothy and clover, and the latter, if cut early 
in July or late in June, will yield a second crop nearly equal to the first cut¬ 
ting, or a fine crop of seed. The raising of clover is a very important ele¬ 
ment of success in the culture of the openings. By its use the land may 
be enriched while producing returns in crops, by feeding and pasturing. 
Clover is, however, liable to be thrown out by the frost in winter or spring, 
and this causes a disappointment to the farmers’ hopes. 
The stock raised in the county is generally fair, and will hold its own as 
compared with other sections. It would be difficult to produce finer horses, 
Devons and Durliams than are found with several farmers in this county, 
especially about Ripon. 
Not much can be said in favor of Fond du Lac as a fruit growing region. 
Apples of hardy varieties are tolerably certain of profitable returns. The 
cultivated kinds of plums also occasionally succeed. But the fruit culturist 
is apt to meet with grievous disappointments. Those persons who reside 
in the cities succeed in raising fine pears, quinces and grapes in large quan¬ 
tities, on account of the protection afforded by the houses against bleak 
winds. The Tallman Sweeting, Seek-no farther, Snow apple, Duchess of 
