510 AGEICULTUKAL KEPOKT. 



At present farmers in fully one-half of the improved portions of the State are re- 

 stricted to posts and boards for all farm-fences; and not only the cost of this material, 

 but its quality, its rapid deterioration, the diminishing supply, and the somewhat feeble 

 character of its resisting power to the assaults of farm stock, present questions of 

 very considerable importance for study and experiment. The actual aggregate cost 

 of farmrfences to the farmers of this State so very far exceeds any estimate likely 

 to be made, that I have, witli the assistance of a number of well-informed farmers ot 

 this county, (Walworth,) made a careful computation of the first cost, annual deteriora- 

 tion, per cent., and cost of annual repair. There are sixteen townships, or seven hun- 

 dred and fifty-six square miles, in the county. Estimating one-sixteenth as lake, ponds, 

 or abandoned lands, gives five hundred and forty square miles, or 345,600 acres of im- 

 proved or inclosed land. This, if fenced into 40-acr6 lots, will require five rods of 

 fence to the acre, (a'carefal estimate gives 25 acres as the average size of fields,) or 

 1,728,000 rods of fence, exclusive of ornamental and village fences. Estimating one- 

 eighth of this as division fence, and therefore duplicated in the foregoing estimate, 

 and to include also temporary and comparatively worthless fence, will give in even 

 numbers 1,500,000 rods of farm-fence for the county, 100,000 rods for each township 

 (one-sixteenth of the total area having been thrown out of the estimate as lakes, 

 ponds, or abandoned lands) of improved or inclosed lands. From carefully prepared 

 data I find about two-fifths to be highway-fence, making 600,000 rods of highway- 

 fence for the county, and 40,000 rods for each township. 



Estimating the cost of this fence at $1 x^er rod gives $1,500,000 for the county, and 

 $100,000 for each township. Two-fifths of this for highway-fences give $600,000 for 

 the county and $140,000 for each township, or a total cost of all farm-fences of $4.34, 

 nearly, i^er acre, and a cost of $1.73 per acre for highway-fence. Estimating 10 per 

 cent, on first cost for annual deterioration and repairs, and 7 per cent, interest on first 

 cost, gives $275,000 as the aggregate annual cost of farm-fence for the county, and 

 $18,333.33 for each township. Fully two-fifths of this are for highway-fence. If to this 

 sum be added the cost of village-fences — mainly made necessary by the pernicious 

 habit of using the highway as a public pasture — the total cost of fence for the county 

 will be swelled to the considerable sum of $1,750,000, and the annual cost to $297,500. 



The report contakis a communication from Mr. W. Weferling, super- 

 intendent of the Sauk County Beet-Sugar Manufacturing Company, giv- 

 ing a detailed statement of the operations of the establishment for a 

 period of sixty days. His experiments demonstrated the success of the 

 enterprise, though the results in all respects were not entirely satisfac- 

 tory. The writer states that the conditions for raising the sugar-beet 

 in Sauk County are excellent. The soil is mild and normal ; extraordi- 

 nary salts are not present in injurious proportions ; saltpeter, which in 

 some localities has occasioned the total failure of like enterprises, is not 

 found here at all. This important fact gives vitality to the enterprise, 

 and guarantees success in the future. 



The company last year planted 230 acres of beets, which yielded four 

 and one-half tons to the acre, or a total of 1,035 tons — not enough in the 

 aggregate to keep the establishment running for more than two months 

 out of a season reckoned at five mouths. The yield and valuation of 

 these 1,035 tons, or 2,070,000 pounds, of beets are given as follows : 



Sold 450 barrels, of 220 pounds each, or 99,000 pounds, A sugar, at 12^ cents. $12, 375 

 Sold 79 baiTcls, of 220 pounds each, or 15,400 pounds, B sugar, at 114^ cents. 1,771 

 Unsold, 100 barrels, of 200 pounds each, or 20,000 i^ounds, i .w sugar, at 9 cents 1, 800 



Totals 134,400 pounds sugar, at 15, 946 



Add 72,350 pounds molasses, worth 723 



Total valuation of sacchai'ine jiroducts 16, 669 



Estimating the capacity of the factory at 25 tons per day, and divid- 

 ing the total number of days into the total amount of the above valua- 

 tion of the products of the business, gives a total income per diem of 

 $402, or, in round numbers, $400. The 'expenses of the establishment 

 in working out these results, though normal in respect to the capacity 

 of the factory, amount to a much larger sum, relatively, than would be 

 necessary if the capacity was twice as great. Stated accurately, they 

 were as follows : 



