72 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
The limitation of space and the plan of this volume will pre¬ 
vent any detailed account of the proceedings for the year 1860 
in pursuance of the arrangement adopted in the making up of 
previous volumes, but a tabular synopsis of the returns made 
to this office for the year will be found on pages 356-7. In 
some of the counties which apper in blank, societies have been 
organized, but report was neglected to be made. The standing 
annual appropriation of $100 to each society holding a fair and 
complying with the law in the making of a report to the Sec¬ 
retary of State and to the Secretary of the State Agricultural 
Society, is found to be a great help in all the new' counties, and 
in a number of cases has resulted in a valuable organization, 
which otherwise would probably have been deferred for years. 
It is believed that the same amount of money could not be 
more wisely appropriated. 
There have likewise been organized within the past few years, 
numerous town clubs for the discussion of practical questions 
relating to Agriculture, Horticulture, and the Mechanic Arts. 
The meetings are held monthly or semi-monthly, and then 
published reports in the newspapers of the State, together with 
the improvement perceptible in the localities where they are 
held, afford evidence that they are accomplishing great good. 
In several of the larger towns and cities, horticultural socie¬ 
ties have been organized, and their utility is decidedly manifest 
in an improved taste for ornamental gardening, and in the bet¬ 
ter success which now attends a more general effort for the 
cultivation of fruits. The Wisconsin Fruit-Growers’ Associa¬ 
tion has accomplished very much in this direction. Its annual 
report will constitute a part of this volume, and can hardly fail 
to be read with interest and profit. 
The only independent joint stock association, with the gen¬ 
eral advancement of industry as its object, is known as the 
Wisconsin Agricultural and Mechanical Association. It was 
incorporated in the winter of 1859—’60, and is located at Mil¬ 
waukee. A brief account of its objects and history will be in¬ 
cluded in this volume. 
