MAINE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



PAPERS AND DISCUSSIONS, 



AT THE ANNUAL MEETING AT 



BRTJlSrSAVICK, FEB. 8tli, 9th, 10th, 1876, 



FENCES AND FENCING. 



I. Introd-uction to the Subject. 



Br Z. A. Gilbert, East Turner. 



A small part only of the labor expended on and around our 

 farms is devoted directly to production. Take as an example an 

 average farm as we find it at the present time in any section 

 of the State, where the principal energies of the proprietor are 

 devoted to the farm itself, and consider for a moment how little 

 of the labor expended contributes directly to production. A full 

 comprehension of the facts in the case will render a solution to 

 certain perplexing problems which the proprietor of such a farm 

 has frequently presented to him. It will plainly show why the 

 harvests of the farmers here are not heaped as high as are found 

 in some other sections of our broad country. While our soil is 

 suflSciently productive to give us acreable returns almost equal to 

 any other State in the Union, at the same time we are able to 

 work but few of those productive acres, hence the number of 

 acres bearing a harvest are few in comparison. A rough estimate 

 would be safe in saying that of the year's work not over one- 

 fourth is employed directly in production and in harvesting the 



