FORAGE CROPS IN NEW ENGLAND. 165 



lislied in " The American Agriculturist " an estimate of the 

 present annual fence tax upon the people of this country, 

 and found, that, including cost of repairs and rebuilding, 

 together with the interest and taxes on the same, this annual 

 outlay represents a sum that would be sufficient to pay all 

 the cost of our army, navy, and general government ex- 

 penses (including pensions), and leave enough balance to 

 pay every cent of the interest on our national debt. This, 

 remember, is our j^early payment, and was estimated when 

 the rate of interest on the public debt was much greater 

 than it is now. No American citizen can afford to excuse 

 frauds, or overlook corruption among government officials; 

 but what comparison do the losses in this direction bear to 

 the self-imposed burdens growing out of this old custom of 

 fencing our neighbor and our neighbor's cattle out? The 

 custom requires millions to build and support fences, who 

 have no animals to restrain. Let us think of this matter 

 seriously, take it to the meetings of the farmers' club, and 

 see what can be done towards lifting this burden from our 

 shoulders and the shoulders of those who will follow us. 



In barbarous countries, animals run at large, and men 

 respect no bounds. A civilized people can afford few fences. 



The man who turns his cattle at large, to roam over the 

 fields of his neighbors, may consider himself civilized ; but 

 ihe act is certainly very uncivil. 



Cutting food in the fields, and feeding it in stables, pre- 

 vents all waste from tramping of feet, the defilement insepa- 

 rable from pasturing, the loss of food from lands under-fed, 

 and the greater loss from insufficient food in seasons of 

 drought. Field-crops, green or dry, judiciously fed, are 

 consumed with little or no waste : while the farmer who 

 adopts this method insures himself, to a considerable degree, 

 against risks (such as bloat from over-feeding, as where 

 cattle are turned into fields of rank clover) ; against injuries 

 to the udder and teats of cows roaming in rough bush- 

 pastures, the over-heating of animals in excessively hot 

 weather (a common source of trouble in the dairy-room), 

 injuries from flies and other insects, which are a source of 

 constant torment to cattle at pasture ; and also against 

 sudden or severe changes of weather. 



He will also find that manure collected at the stable, and 



