44 STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
i 
land, 10 ; and throughout the Southern States, 10 to 12 inches. 
Autumn being the season for gathering crops and preparing 
the soil for the work of the succeeding spring, it is, of course, 
desirable that the fall of rain be only moderate. 
The winter contrast is still more marked. In the extreme 
south-east corner, the fall for the three winter months is 5 
inches ; but over all the rest of the State, except a border along 
the St. Croix, where it is only 2, the fall is but 3 inches; while 
that of Michigan is 5; of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New Yrnrk 
and New England, 7 to 10, and of the Southern States, 8 to 18 
r' 
inches. From this it will appear that the winter climate of 
Wisconsin, though cold, is, at the same time, dry; and to this, 
in part, may be attributed its remarkable healthfulness as com¬ 
pared with other climates. 
Protracted and serious drouths are scarcely ever known. 
Agricultural Capacity of the Climate .—It may be inferred 
from the foregoing summary of the distribution of heat and 
moisture, that the climate of Wisconsin is adapted to the pro¬ 
duction of all the cereal grains and grasses commonly grown 
in this country, and that it will also admit of the successful 
cultivation of the fruits which belong to the northern belt of 
the North Temperate Zone. It need only be remarked under 
this head, therefore, that it is pre-eminently fitted for the pro¬ 
duction of that greatest staple of commercial breadstuffs, 
wheat. 
In the Eastern, and in portions of the Middle States, the 
production of wheat has largely diminished; while over a wide 
belt across the lower Western States, its cultivation is being 
abandoned on account of the precariousness of the crop. Ac¬ 
cording to Blodgett, “ Where the humid, tropical heats intrude 
into the cooler zone, as over much of the interior plain below 
Cincinnati, from the Gulf to Central Iowa, wheat cannot be 
grown. The greater part of the United States is liable to 
these extremes as temporary conditions, originating rust, mil¬ 
dew, blight, and probably the injury which in Southern Illinois 
renders the grain unhealthy as food.” It is generally admitted 
by the best authorities on climatology that the successful culti- 
