Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. 
DEPARTMENT C.— Sheep. 
BY' T. c. dousman, superintendent. 
In tins department the show was a success, all the pens being 
filled, and additional ones had to be built. The sheep exhibited bj 
Messrs. Paul, Humbird, Lawrence, Craig, Cook, and others, were 
choice merinos, and they say cannot be beaten anywhere. The only 
competition they had was among themselves. 
Of the importance of the wool-growing interest and the progress 
made in improving the breed of fine-wool sheep in the State, I can 
say no more than I did in my last report. Should another premium 
be offered by the Society for the best cleansed fleece, I would sug¬ 
gest that the money be appropriated to the wool-growers’ associa¬ 
tion, and let the members make the rules necessary to compete for 
the premium, as well as appoint the committee to award it. 
The judges on fine wool, Mr. Kelley, a very extensive fine-wool 
grower, from Illinois, and Messrs. Hammond and Keyes, of this 
State, were the best judges the Society ever had. With one excep¬ 
tion, not a word of fault was found by an exhibitor, to my knowl¬ 
edge, relative to the award of premiums. 
The exhibition of long-wools was the largest and best ever made 
in the State, and the competition with our Canadian brethren was 
sharp. The sheep in this class from Canada were excellent, and 
they justly carried off some of the prizes. I think their long-wool 
sheep are superior to ours, and that it is largely to be attributed to 
the peas and roots fed them, in place of corn usually fed to sheep 
in this State. 
DEPARTMENT D.— Swine. 
BY T. C. DOUSMAN, SUPERINTENDENT. 
The exhibition of swine in the large and middle breeds was about 
the same as in 1874, but I observed a marked change in the quality, 
and being the same gentlemen who have exhibited for years, it 
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