DISCUSSION ON FENCES AND FENCINQ. ^5 



villapro have been pastured on the town common and the farms 

 about it. But now the cows instead of being turned loose have 

 herders, and are brought home at night, and don't climb four 

 story college buildings, and get milked on the college grounds. 

 The idea has come to be accepted that the owners of cows must 

 take care of them, and that is a great improvement. 



Let me cite the case of a farm at New JSIeadows bought by two 

 stable men who of course have an abundance of dressing. The 

 land was very much impoverished. They hauled rock-weed and 

 brought up the crop of hay from one and a half to three tons per 

 acre. The land sloped to the river and was drained cross-wise. 

 They took down the stone-walls and drained towards the river. 

 I know other places where they are taking their fences down. So 

 far as beauty is concerned, I see nothing more charming than an 

 open field. The marked improvement which has been made in 

 this town has been brought about under the most adverse circum- 

 stances, and if Brunswick can throw down its road fences, other 

 towns can do the same. What is the use of doing work which 

 the law does not ask us to do ? 



Professor CARjiicnAKL. It has been assumed here that those 

 who advocate the removal of road-side fences take a new position. 

 I maintain that the good old custom is not to have fences, and 

 that the custom of maintaining them is an innovation, and one 

 peculiar to this country. You may land upon the English coast 

 and travel from Liverpool to London, and then you may cross the 

 channel and travel to St. Petersburg and not see a fence on the 

 ■whole road. Li Germany they have no term for a fence. Now 

 the question with us is whether it is cheaper to fence in cattle or 

 to fence them out. In regard to the question of beauty, we see 

 these little white fences about our buildings. They are intended 

 for ornament, but any man of artistic taste will tell you that they 

 are blots. I point to the town of Cheneyville, Conn., as an example 

 of a village beautified by planting trees, and by other improve- 

 ments the work done by association directed by cultivated taste. 

 I defy any one to bring forward so beautiful a village as that made 

 from so slight material. It has not any remarkable scenery, and 

 yet it has become a popular place of resort. We have become so 

 accustomed to ugliness that we don't know what beauty is ; but 

 to any one who has looked at such a place as this there is no com- 

 parison between the trees and lawns and our fences. As to the 

 profitableness or unprofitableness, that is a question of statistics, 



