ANNUAL EEPORT—1862. 
101 
much increased under the stimulation of the high prices of 
foreign-produced sugar and molasses, so that there is reason to 
hope that, as a State, we may ultimately produce enough of 
these articles for home consumption. As yet, however, we 
lack the means of manufacturing refined sugar and syrup, 
though it is hoped that ere long this desideratum will be sup¬ 
plied by the establishment of one or more refineries within the 
boundaries of this State. 
The culture of flax, as a means of supplying a substitute for 
cotton, is justly attracting much attention in many parts of the 
country. The State of New York has placed some $3,000 in the 
control of the State Agricultural Society to be used in securing 
a thorough course of experimentation with a view to so “ cot- 
tonizing” flax as that it may be manufactured by means of cot¬ 
ton machinery. It is not the wish of this Society that any 
appropriation be made by this ..State for a like purpose, but if 
any measure could be adopted by the Legislature to encourage 
the establishment of mills and factories for the manufacture of 
'oil and the the dressing of flax fibre, there is little doubt that 
such means would result to the advantage of the productive 
industry of the State. 
Sheep husbandry has already felt the stimulus of the in¬ 
creased demand for wool, and hundreds of our farmers who 
have hitherto given little or no attention to this branch of ag¬ 
riculture, are now engaging in it with great zeal. The dry 
and healthful climate, and welbwatered surface of Wisconsin, 
admirably adapt it to the rearing of sheep and the production 
of good wool; while our distance from the great markets and 
the high tariff for transportation thereto, furnish another im¬ 
portant incentive to the production of whatever will economi¬ 
cally yield the largest money returns in proportion to weight. 
Wool-growing should be ranked among our most important 
agricultural interests, and, as such, is eminently entitled to 
legislative protection. 
INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. 
Each succeeding year adds to our conviction that one of the 
