130 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Sept., 



and decree shall be recorded in the records of the town in which said 

 lands are, and the bounds, so erected and established, shall be the 

 bounds between said proprietors. 



CHAPTER 274. . 

 Fences. 



Sec. 5129. Proprietors to maintain fences. The proprietors of 

 lands shall make and maintain sufficient fences to secure their par- 

 ticular fields. Within cities and adjacent to house lots a tight board 

 fence four and one-half feet high, an open picket fence four feet high, 

 the opening between pickets not to exceed four inches, or a slat rail 

 fence four feet high, the opening betv,^een slats not to exceed six inches, 

 the lower slat not over six inches from the ground, all to be substan- 

 tially erected, or any other fence which in the judgment of the select- 

 men or other officials charged with the duty of fence viewers shall be 

 equal thereto, shall be a sufficient fence; in places outside of incor- 

 porated cities, a rail fence four and one-half feet high, a stone wall 

 four feet high, substantially erected, a wire fence consisting of four 

 strands not to exceed twelve inches apart, stretched tightly, the lower 

 strand not more than twelve inches and the upper strand not less than 

 four feet from the ground, with good substantial posts not more than 

 sixteen feet apart, and any other fence which in the judgment of the 

 selectmen shall be equal to such a rail fence, shall be a sufficient 

 fence. Adjoining proprietors shall each make and maintain half of a 

 divisional fence, the middle line of which shall be on the dividing line, 

 and said fence shall not exceed in width, if a straight wood or hedge 

 fence, two feet; if a brick or stone fence, three feet; if a crooked rail 

 fence, six feet; and if a ditch, eight feet, not including the bank, which 

 shall be on the land of the maker. No ditch shall be made adjacent to 

 a house lot without the consent of the owner of the house. 



Sec. 5130. Use of barbed wire regulated. No barbed wire shall be 

 used within five feet of the ground along any sidewalk or public high- 

 way, without the written consent of a majority of the selectmen of the 

 town, the members of the common council of the city, or the warden 

 and burgesses of the borough, in which such sidewalk or highway is 

 situated. 



Sec. 5131. Barbed wire between adjoining premises. No person or 

 corporation shall use barbed wire in the construction of fences, or have 

 barbed wire upon existing fences, between their own premises and 

 those of an adjoining proprietor, within twenty-five rods of any house 

 or barn belonging to such proprietor, Vvdthout first obtaining his written 

 consent. Every person or corporation violating any provision of this 

 section shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars. 



Sec. 5132. Use of barbed wire prohibited. No barbed wire shall be 

 used in the construction of fences, or retained upon existing fences, 

 connected with or enclosing the grounds of any public school or public 

 building. Every person who shall violate any provision of this section 

 shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars. 



Sec. 5134. Division of fence, how compelled. When a fence be- 

 tween adjoining proprietors has never been divided, and either refuses 

 to divide it, the other may call on the selectmen to make a division, 

 who shall set out, in writing, the better part to him who erected it or 

 to the party holding under him; and the cost, certified by the select- 

 men in writing, shall be paid by him who refused to mnko such division. 

 Such division, when recorded in the town where the land lies, shall be 

 binding on the parties. 



