THE FARM AND THE HOME. 33 



Whiit useful purpose do these miles on miles of road fences serve? 

 FarnuTs have appeared to think they had no claim to the land set 

 aside for roads ; hence, in fc neiiig themselves in, and the public out, 

 they have not only incurred a large expense in Jahor and material, 

 but they luivt; lost the use of the land by the roadside, except so far 

 as it has been used as a receptacle for brush, stones, decaying 

 wood and timber, and other rubbish that accumulates about the 

 premises, thus making a congenial soil for bushes and weeds that 

 year after year distribute a generous supply of seed over the adjoin- 

 ing fields. The removal of the fence, and clearing up of the 

 roadside, so that tillage may extend to the travelled way, combines 

 both beauty and utility, and adds to the value of the farm. 



We observe with pleasure, that in all sections of the State these 

 unsightly fences are being I'emoved, and the boundaries of the road 

 lined with fruit and shade trees. Interior field fences also occupy 

 valuable land, besides adding to the cost of cultivation. Farmers 

 will do well to consider if the benefit of these fences equal the loss 

 of land the}- occupy, and the cost of construction and maintenance. 



It would seem that the most judicious practice in stock farming 

 requires an outlay for fences only sufficient to enclose the land used 

 for pasturage. 



The soil is a storehouse of accumulated plant food, and will honor 

 the drafts of growing vegetation until the deposit is exhausted. 



It is an axiom in agriculture, proven by centuries of practical 

 experience, and recenily corroborated through scientific research, 

 that the fertilizing materials removed in the harvests must be in some 

 form returned to the soil, or exhaustion will surely follow. In trac- 

 ing man's existence upon the earth, in the footprints impressed on 

 nature, and in the less remote times, through the recorded facts of 

 written history, we see that the axiom here set down is not only 

 true, but that to violate it infiicts upon human life results most de- 

 plorable. We have an examjjle of this in that realm, in the remote 

 east, earliest fitted for the occupancy and home of man — "aland 

 flowing with milk and honey " — which was for centuries the scene of 

 active life and cheerful industry ; with flocks and herds grazing the 

 perennial verdure of the hillsides ; with fields of waving corn ripen- 

 ing for the harvest ; vineyards of delicious fruits blushing and 

 purpling in the genial warmth of the sunshine ; and cities excelling 

 in population and splendor those of the present day. The food 



