456 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
It comprises one of the best agricultural districts iu the northwest. Its 
soil, climate and commercial situation are equal to any other in the west, 
and there is scarcely an acre of land within its limits which cannot he used 
for agricultural purposes. In the brief space of thirty-five years the entire 
county has been opened up to cultivation, and over its entire surface may 
be found homes of comfort and beauty. 
The farms in this county range in value from ten to one hundred dollars 
per acre, and are sought for, not so much by emigrants seeking cheap lands 
as by those desiring beautiful homes where they may at once enjoy all the 
comforts and conveniences to be found in the older and more wealthy por¬ 
tions oL the country. 
Rock county is better adapted to the growing of grain than of grass, and 
every year marks a decided progress in the mode of tillage and the conse¬ 
quent increased quantity of production. The wicked and ruinous practice, 
of many farmers, of burning the straw and manures, instead of returning 
them to the soil in compensation for its rich harvests, has been abandoned. 
Wheat is the great staple of production, it being estimated that in a single 
crop the production of the county was not less than three millions of 
bushels. • 
Corn, barley, oats and all the coarser grains grow in rich abundance, 
amply rewarding the husbandman for his toil. 
Notwithstanding Rock comity is better adapted to grain growing than 
stock raising, our farmers are giving considerable attention to the breeding 
of stock, and acting upon the correct idea that it costs no more to raise a 
blooded animal than a “dunghill,” are constantly introducing the best 
varieties, and at the county fairs may be seen horses, cattle, sheep and 
swine, animals as noble as almost any other section of the country can ex¬ 
hibit. 
The surface of Rock county is undulating and is drained by the Rock and 
Sugar rivers, with their tributaries, nearly all of which are of sufficient 
size to furnish water power for manufacturing purposes, and are more or 
less improved. Rock, one of the most beautiful rivers, as well as one of 
the very best mill streams in the west is already used largely for manufac- 
ing purposes, and every year is attracting more and more the attention of 
men of enterprise and capital; when fully improved its power for the pro¬ 
pulsion of machinery is almost exhaustless. The facilities for manufactur¬ 
ing in Rock county by water power are but partially improved, and yet she 
ranks among the first in the west, her annual manufactured product being 
worth not less than three millions of dollars, consisting principally of flour, 
agricultural implements, paper, woolen fabrics, cabinet ware, lager beer, etc. 
During the last decade the general business ot the county has greatly 
increased, and everywhere may be seen tokens of prosperity and growth , 
based upon the production of diversified labor in agriculture and manufac¬ 
tures. During the same period the public buildings erected in the infancy 
