150 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



Colusa, Contra Costa, ISTapa, Sacramento, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa 

 Clara. Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Sutter, and Yolo. If two adjoining 

 tracts of land, one occupied for stock growing and the other for grain 

 farming, are considered, it will be seen that either one or the other must 

 be fenced, or the grain field will be encroached upon and destroyed by 

 the stock. It is needless, at this point of the illustration, to state that 

 the grain field is incapable of going over upon the stock range and com- 

 mitting depredations. Its reasonable request is simply " to be let alone." 

 Hence the stock range finds no necessity for the erection of barriers 

 against the encroachments of its neighbors. The greatest obstacle to 

 profitable farming in this State has been the costliness offences, not only 

 at the outset, but for constant repairs. The enormous outlay for fences 

 in our great produce counties would hardly be credited upon any state- 

 ment short of the actual figures. These figures it is proposed to give, as 

 taken from the returns of the County Assessors to the Surveyor-General 

 of the State, from the thirteen counties named. 



There are in these thirteen counties, as by the returns of the Asses- 

 sors, one million nine hundred and fifty-nine thousand four hundred and 

 nineiy acres of land under fence, which may be estimated to have cost 

 ten dollars per acre, or an aggregate of nineteen million five hundred 

 and ninety-four thousand nine hundred dollars. Taking the number of 

 stock as given in the Assessors' returns and estimating its value at mar- 

 ket rates, the worth of all the horses, mules, cattle, sheep, and hogs in 

 these thirteen counties will sum up eight million eight hundred and four 

 thousand seven hundred and seventy-four dollars. Thus showing that 

 the fences have cost ten million seven hundred and ninet}^ thousand one 

 hundred and twenty-six dollars more than the total value of all of the 

 stock in the district. By this it appears that grain growers could well 

 have afforded to have bought this stock and given it away for exile, and 

 thereby saved ten million seven hundred and ninety thousand one hun- 

 dred and twenty-six dollars, if they could by so doing have escaped the 

 necessity of erecting fences to protect their grain fields. A comparison 

 of the annual value of the farm produce raised in these districts with the 

 annual value of the increase of stock, will afford instructive material for 

 the economist. The value of the wheat, barley, oats, corn, rye, buck- 

 wheat, peas, potatoes, hay, fruit, wine, and garden produce grown an- 

 nually in the thirteen counties indicated will aggregate to the sum of 

 twenty million sixty thousand eight hundred and twenty-four dollars. 

 Estimating the increase in the value of the stock in the same counties 

 thirty-three and one third per cent on the gross stock valuation, and its 

 yearl} r earnings are two million nine hundred and thirty-four thousand 

 nine hundred and twenty-four dollars, being seventeen million one hun- 

 dred and twenty-five thousand nine hundred dollars less than the earn- 

 ings of produce farming during the same period. The fences having cost 

 nineteen million five hundred and ninet3 T -four thousand nine hundred dol- 

 lars, interest at the rate of one and one half per cent per month on this 

 amount is three million five hundred and sixty-seven thousand five hun- 

 dred and ninety-two dollars, which should be charged to the debit of the 

 stock. Add to this, eight per cent on the cost of the fences, one million 

 five hundred and sixty-seven thousand five hundred and ninety-two dol- 

 lars, for depreciation, decay, and repairs, and there is a total annual tax 

 on produce farming of five million ninety-four thousand six hundred and 

 seventy-four dollars as a subsid}' to aid stock growing. The total annual 

 earnings of stock growing being only two million nine hundred and thirty- 

 four thousand nine hundred and twenty-four dollars, and the interest on 



