194 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



if carried into effect, would please public taste in more ways than 

 one, and we might be, in part, disfranchised from dependance on 

 the cane jjlantations of the West Indias." 



In view of the fact that the sugar maple is being rapidly cut 

 away from our original forests, would it not be well for our agri- 

 cultural societies to encourage the culture of this tree by offering 

 premiums for groves or plantations of them ? 



V. — Fexces. 



In making an agricultural survey of any district in the State or 

 county, the condition of the fences within its limits must not escape 

 notice. Poor fences, which, next to poor buildings, arc a sure 

 sign of bad management and thriftless husbandry, are objects of 

 common occurrence in travelling through the county — while good 

 fences are in most cases the exception and not the rule. 



As a general thing, I think our farmers do more useless work in 

 the building of temporary fences than in any other operation of the 

 farm ; but in many .instances they are so situated that it cannot be 

 well avoided. For instance : corn is planted this season in a part 

 of the mowing field, and before it becomes fully ripe so that it can 

 be cut and moved, it is necessary to turn in the stock to obtain 

 the advantages of rich fall feed. But a fence must first be erected 

 to inclose the corn, the making of which will occupy several days 

 of hard work, and also requiring as much to remove it again, after 

 the corn is harvested, or in the following spring. Therefore, so 

 long as we cannot wholly dispense with fences, it is important to 

 have farms divided into fields of convenient size. 



The principles of fence building, together with the rules which 

 should govern the operation, seem to be three : — 1st. AVhere are 

 fences most wanted, and of what shall they be built ? These are 

 questions which each farmer can best decide for himself The cir- 

 cumstances by which he is surrounded, and the materials at com- 

 mand, give every one an opportunity to arrange the manner of 

 building and the choice of materials, to suit his own particular 

 wants. Fences dividing lots or farms should be pcrmanontl}^ built 

 of durable materials ; next, the division of pasture and fields, and 

 then the sub-division of fields so as to facilitate farm Iqbor, particu- 

 larly the rotation of crops and expeditious cultvu'e. As to materi- 



