LISTOCT l 1925 PUBLICATIONS OF THE MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY EDITED BT SOLON BUCK.

SUPERINTENDENT OF THE SOCIETY Mr PRESIDENT, MEMBERS OF THE MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN : The superintendent, in inviting me to address the society, suggested that I take some theme which would enable me to present the plans we have developed at Wisconsin for doing a certain portion of our work, and to exhibit somewhat the methods which we are fol- lowing, or propose to follow, in accomplishing our aims.

The principal feature of our new activity in the Wisconsin Historical Society is the so-called Wisconsin Domesday Book.

Briefly defined, this is a plan by which it may be possible ultimately to prepare and publish, partly in the form of an atlas and partly in the form of text, the pioneer history of all the townships of Wisconsin.

For the older counties we take the year 1860 as the normal year and call our plats Farms and Farmers of 1860.