410 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
tent teachers and professors in all the branches, scientific, useful and orna¬ 
mental which constitute a finished education. 
There are, in this county, several agricultural associations or societies, 
which hold yearly, both at Fond du Lac and at Ripon, very creditable ex¬ 
hibitions, and let me say here en passant that the reason why the agricul- 
cultural society of the state of Wisconsin has never graced and honored 
this section of the state with a single one of its annual exhibitions, has 
never been satisfactorily explained. Being in part supported by funds from 
the whole state, it does not appear liberal or even just, that this beautiful 
and rich section should thus be year after year ignored by the state society. 
We sincerely hope to see this neglect and injustice speedily corrected. 
That portion of our state, which extends from Fond du Lac to Green Bay, 
is now by far the most progressive; as demonstrated by the late census, and 
this fact should be recognized. 
Among- the agricultural interests of the county, dairying is* assuming an 
important place. There are five or six extensive cheese factories, several 
more just started at the time of taking the last United States census and 
therefore do not appear in the aggregate statistics of the county, besides 
many private ones; their numbers and importance are on the increase; 
cheese-making and butter-making are more profitable than the raising of 
wheat, because those articles have a greater concentrated value.. The same 
remark applies to fat cattle and hogs a t s well as to the raising of wool. All 
these branches of agricultural industry are prospering and increasing. 
The public improvements of the county of Fond du Lac are neither very 
extensive nor very costly. They consist principally of the churches, of 
which the city has some twelve or fifteen, some of them elegant structures; 
a stone jail, equal if not superior to any in the state, and costing nearly 
|40,000. The court house is an old and inadequate building, which it is in¬ 
tended within a couple of years to replace by a large and commodious edi¬ 
fice, that will accommodate all the officers of the county. A fund has been 
accumulating for the purpose for several years, at the rate of $15,000 an¬ 
nually, which now amounts to about $00,000. When this county erects a 
new court house it will be of such a character as to be a worthy represen¬ 
tative of its wealth and refinement. 
A great change has taken place in the streets of the city. Many of them 
have lately been substantially built, at heavy expense, and are now firm, 
smooth and durable. The principal business portion of Main street, for 
more than one half mile, has been built of the Nicholson pavement.. Good 
gravel roads exist on the five main arteries of travel from the county to the 
city of Fond du Lac, for an average distance of four miles, and are kept in 
repair by the Fond du Lac Gravel Road Company, under whose auspices 
they were built. Toll is taken, which is mainly expended in keeping them 
in good condition. Although the country roads are far from being bad, 
still they are not yet as good as would be desirable. 
