No. 63.] 117 



fence is most common, and the worst of all. In its construction 

 there is a great waste of timber; it decays early, and it renders use- 

 less for culture no small part of a farm. In a farm of 100 acres 

 fenced into suitable sized fields by worm fence, from one-fifteenth to 

 one-twentieth of the whole is occupied by them. Besides, the cor- 

 ners not being reached by the plow, are nurseries for weeds and 

 vermin. Hedges have not proved very successful in our climate, 

 particularly when made of plants used for that purpose in other 

 countries. With our own we may hereafter succeed better. A fence, 

 the posts of which are heart locust wood or red cedar, with pine 

 boards, will last for many years, and in value and durability be next 

 to stone.* Turf walls, on moist or clay lands, have in many instan- 

 ces proved excellent and durable structures, but on rich or loamy 

 soils, the turf does not acquire sufficient firmness to resist animals. 

 But whatever may be the kind of fence, it must be kept in repair, or 

 much of the labor spent on the farm will be lost. Unruly animals, 

 broken down fences, destroyed crops and quarrelsome neighbors 

 usually go together; good management of the farm avoids them all, 

 A very important thing on a farm is its woodland, and particularly is 

 this the case in this and the other northern states, where it must be exten- 

 Wood- lively relied upon for fuel. There has been great, not to say 

 lands, criminal negligence, on the part of the land-holders and farmers 



* Few are aware of the cost of dividing a farm into suitable sized fields. So great has 

 this become already, in some parts of our country, from the scarcity of materials and cost 

 of procuring them, that the necessity of adopting a mode of husbandry which shall dis- 

 pense with fences, seems imperative. In Belgium or France, where there are no fences, 

 all animals, not taken care of by shepherds, &c., are soiled, or kept up the whole year. 

 Tlie cost of difiFerent kinds of fences, in ordinary cases, has been estimated as follows : 



Kind of Fence. Cost per Rod. 



Worm, or common rail fence, $0 75 



White cedar fence, post and rails, "^ 



5 rails high, three lengths to 2 [-Cost of setting and making not included, 91 



rods, ) 



White pine rails, 2 inches by 8, '» 



chestnut posts, 4 rails higli, 3 [- " " "0 64 



lengths to 2 rods, ) 



Four and a half feet stone wall, from $1 to $2.50 per rod, 1 75 



Hedge fence, Virginia thoi-ns, 21 to a rod at 4 years old, cost per rod, 40 



In the AdiU-ess of Mr. Biddle, before the Philadelphia Agricultural Society, in 1842, are 

 some statements and calculations that place this matter in a foi'cible light. He says he has 

 heard of a farm surroimded by a cedar fence, which would actually sell at auction for more 

 than the farm, itself ; and another farmer assured him that the fencing of his farm of 300 

 acres cost him .?5,000. Mr. B. estimates the cost of fencing tlie improved lands of Penn- 

 sylvania, at not less than $100,000,600; and as much of it will not last more than from ten 

 to fifteen years, the annual tax on the State, for fences alone, is from five to eight millions 

 of dollars. 



