28 Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. 
repair so as to be of use when needed. Time is spent in getting it 
repaired which is of ten-fold more value than at other and less hur¬ 
rying seasons of the year. Seed-corn, and other grains and seeds 
intended for planting, are oftentimes poor, will not germinate, or 
if they do, haven’t sufficient strength and vitality to nourish the 
young plant until it can obtain sustenance from the soil; hence the 
plant is stunted and dwarfed, producing only a light crop, even 
though the same labor was bestowed as upon land with perfect 
seed and which produces an abundant harvest. 
2. Stock of the best and most profitable kinds are not bred, and 
are not properly fed, watered, and housed to warrant the best 
profits. If dairy-cows are kept, some will yield each year a hand¬ 
some profit, while others will not pay their keeping. The cow 
which will produce 800 pounds of cheese per annum is profitable, 
while the cow making only 200 pounds is doubtless kept at a loss. 
The same is true of cattle for fattening. The short-horn steer will 
net his owner, if well fed and cared for, handsome returns, while 
the scrub-breed will barely pay for the feed and care. 
3. Grasses and grains are left to stand some days after they are 
in the most profitable condition to cut and properly secure, until 
oftentimes the former have lost a portion of their nutritious quali¬ 
ties, and the latter is over-ripe, and shelled and scattered for the 
birds, or to waste. These valuable crops, after they are harvested, 
are often exposed to heavy rains by being miserably stacked. 
Thousands of acres of excellent wheat in our sister States, Iowa 
and Minnesota, were nearly ruined last autumn by a careless and 
shiftless manner of stacking pursued by their people. To be pre¬ 
pared for the worst and hope for the best, is the only safe rule in 
such cases. 
These, and many other reasons might be given why u farming 
doesn’t pay,” and the thoughtful farmer will call them to mind 
when reading the above, and, if wise, will correct them. 
Let the discussions on Political Economy go on. It is not an 
established science upon which all men agree ; hence, may not be 
perfect. It is more or less a theor} r still. When the first princi¬ 
ples of this science were enunciated a hundred years ago they were 
largely based upon assumption. Our ablest writers differ upon this 
