STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
202 
directly with the ship landings and warehouses, affords facilities 
for cheap handling and economical transportation generally.— 
The Lake Shore Road, connecting Milwaukee and Chicago, 
renders communication with these two important cities easy 
and cheap as well as direct, and adds considerably to the com¬ 
mercial importance of Kenosha. 
The Kenosha County Agricultural Society was one of 
the first organized in the State, and has accomplished a great 
deal of good. The Fair is located permanently near the centre 
of the county, on grounds belonging to the Society, and is 
almost invariably successful. A large exhibition hall and a 
fine new tent have been recently provided, and must serve as 
additional inducements to exhibitors on future occasions. 
INDUSTRY OF LA FAYETTE COUNTY. 
BY HENRY S. MAGOON, OF SIIULLSBURGH. 
The County of La Fayette, once a part of Iowa County, was 
separated therefrom and organized by the Territorial Legisla¬ 
ture, February 4, 1847. Lying on the southern border of the 
State, bounded on the north by Iowa County, on the east by 
Green, on the south by Jo Daviess County, Illinois, and on the 
west by Grant, it measures thirty miles in length by twenty-one 
in breadth. It is divided into fifteen towns ; the towns of Ar- 
gyle, Fayette, Willow Springs and Belmont comprising the 
northern tier; the towns of Wiota, Gratiot, Center, Shullsbursrh 
and Elk Grove the middle tier; while Wayne, Monticello, White 
Oak Springs, New Diggings and Benton lie along the south. 
The county was first permanently settled A. D. 1826; and here 
the Territorial Legislature of Wisconsin held their first session 
at Belmont, October 25, 1836. The population of the county 
in 1847 numbered 9,335; in 1850, 11,531; in 1855, 16,064; 
in 1860, 17,858; exhibiting a slow but healthy progress. 
The county contains six hundred and thirty sections, or 
403,200 acres of land. The general surface is beautifully un¬ 
dulating, unmarred by cliffs or many steep hills, while of swamps, 
