The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1883-01-18
Aaritnltnral.
THE COST OF FENCES.

,ursl Report for 1864 says: "The
fences of the United States have cost
more than The houses, cities includ-
ed more than the ships, boats, aud
vessels of every description, which
sail tho ocean, lakes, and rivers /;
more than our manufactures, Of al
kinds, with their machinery; more
than any one class OF property,
aside from real estste, except, it
may be, the railroads of our coun-
try" This may seem like an exag
gerated statement, but little esti
mate will show that it is not so ex,
travagant as would at first appear.
The first cost Of the fences of New
York State was between one hun-
dred aud one hundred and fifty mil
lion dollars. Robinson gives it as
100000. Assuming this to be
approximately correct, and estimst~
iug the fret cost Of the fences of
other States on the same basis, we
have, as the total first expense of the
fences of the whole country, the vast
sum of 81 ,296, 000,0 900
This requires to be renewed once
10 ten years, giving 1929, 100000
as the annual cost, to which should
be added, however, at least half as
much more for repairs, making the
aggregate Of $l94, 100000 as the
annual national expense-a sum, we
believe, below the actual figures, yet
quite beyond comprehension. Mich
oIas Biddle estimated that the
"fence tax" of Pennsylvania was tea
million dollars year. Gen. james
7. Worthingtou, of Ohio, says thai
there are IS, 100000 acres of land
in Ohio, says that there are $4,000,
900 acres of land 10 Ohio inclosed
with 1000 miles of fences, at a
prime cost cf Sll5,000,000, and at
a yearly expense for repairs, etc, OF
S7,66O,O00.
If roadside and boundary fences
can be dispensed with, half the cost
of fencing will be saved. That cost
is now an annual tax of S1.50 on
every acre of improved land in the
United States-the fence tax being
twice or thrice as great as the ag-
eregate of the State and local taxes
combined.
Why cannot large portion OF
this outlay be saved for some profit
able investment Every dollar res
cued from fences may be added to
productive wealth. Fences are dead
capital they pay no interest, and
are a constant drain upon the peck
OF, As Mr.. Greedy says, I'VE poi
son our land with fences t4oy are
a shelter for weeds, as we'll as a vast
and useless expense" The indirect
waste which they inhict is almost as
great rs their direct cost. A Vir-
ginia zigzag fence occupies five acres
for every hundred inclosed, thus i'm d.
posing a five per cent tax on the
market value of the sofia tax that
would be felt to be oppressive if it
were for tho payment of the nation
al debt instead of to shelter growth
Of weeds.
Shall we fence stock out or i'll ?
Therd is 40 doubt that our people
now expend four times as much
money to fence stock out as would
be required to fence it in. Our
present custom, which commands
universal fencing, is the worst blum
der the practical American people
ever made. Euterprisipg and orig
inal n many matters, they are fol
lowing slavishly generation after
generation, the habit of the earliest
ErgIish misunderstanding it, tho
very expensive and inconvenient,
because it is good old way Eu-
rope has learned a more rational
method, There are ten times as
many fences in Illinois as in Ger
many ; and Duchess county, in
New York, has more than all
France. In France, Germany, and
Holland farmers hold their lands in
common, with only narrow paths be-
tween.
The continental system of having
few or no fences is evidently the
best and even exclusive England
is slowly adopting it, America will
inevitably follow; for economy,
taste, thorough tillage, fair play, and
good sense command it, and the
time will come, before many years,
when tbs absence of farm fences will
be sign Of progressive culture.
The immense cost of sustaining
fences the inconvenience of having
them always in the way of thorough
tillage, and of easy ingress and
egress to the premises the impass-
able snow drifts accumulated by
them the shelter they afford to
weeds and briars; the protection
they afford to many of the worst
animal pests of the farm, and
their unsightly appearance generally
throughout the country, as the re-
ceptacle of stone heaps, piles of
brush ard dead trees, to say nothing
of the countless acres rendered
worse than useless by their occu-
pancy, would seem sufficient reasons
Tor disposing Of fences wherever not
indispensable for purposes of psstur-
ing -PeODJe'S Journal.