26 



POCKET GOPHERS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Tabic showing amounts paid in Gopher bounties in Iowa, &// counties — Continued. 



County. 



Date. 



Bounty 

 on each 

 Gopher. 



Amount 



specified as 



paid for 



Gophers 



alone. 



Total paid 

 for Gophers 

 and ground 



squirrels — 

 not discrimi- 

 nated. 





• 



Gents. 

 10 

 10 







Slielbv 



1870 



$34.30 



481. 50 



3.00 





Do 



1871 





Do 



1872 . 





* $518. 80 











1887 



5 



10 



10 









For 7 or 8 years previous 



to 1888. 

 1885 











* 750 00 



Do 



1887 





* 965. 00 



Do 



1888 







k 1, 195 00 



Do 



188!) 



1868 1875 



io 





* 1, 546. 00 



* 1 800 00 













1869 . 



10 

 10 

 10 

 10 

 10 

 5 



337. 10 

 392. 50 

 256. 80 

 243. 80 





Do 



1870 





Do 



1871 





Do 



1872 





Do 



1873 



* 1 327 80 



Plymouth 



1875 76 















1868 



15 

 15 

 10 



10 

 20 

 12i 

 10 





2, 087. 10 













une9, 1864, to Oct, 18, 

 1865. 

 1866 





■* 954. 45 





2, 000. 00 

 10, 000. 00 





Do 



1867 





Do 



] 868 





Do 



June to December, 1868 . 

 1874 (?) 





* 1, 800. 00 







to, 000. 00 





1864 



±1 

 16| 







Do 



1865 





t5, 000. 00 











Estimated. 



t Approximate. 



OBJECTIONS TO THE BOUNTY SYSTEM. 



The objections to the bounty system as a means of reducing the 

 numbers of farm pests have been already stated in the publications of 

 this division. The matter is of such importance, however, that certain 

 facts of special interest in the present connection may well be repeated. 



The experience of nearly all the States which have paid bounties for 

 the destruction of injurious animals has been that the system is not 

 only very expensive, but unsatisfactory. In the case of Montana the 

 money in the treasury was exhausted before the act had been in opera- 

 tion six months, and yet the ground squirrels were not perceptibly 

 diminished. The experience of Benton County, Iowa, with Pocket 

 Gophers also shows the disastrous effects of offering high bounties. 

 In 1866 a bounty of 10 cents per scalp was paid. The following year 

 the bounty was increased to 20 cents, and amounted to $10,000. This 

 caused the county to borrow $3,000, and still left Gopher warrants 

 unxmid to the amount of $3,000 additional. The bounty was then 

 reduced to 12^ cents for six months, then to 10 cents, and was finally 

 abolished on January 1, 1869, the entire amount paid out in three years 

 being about $18,000; but the Gopher, although greatly reduced in 

 numbers, was not exterminated. 



The result was hardly more successful in the Dakotas and Minnesota, 

 and in several cases the bounties were withdrawn within a few months 



