THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



51 



maintenance of such a fence would 



therefore be : 



Interest on (say) $1,300 at 6 per 



cent $78 00 



Estimated average annual charge 



for repairs and for permanent 



maintenance at 6 per cent 78 00 



Extra do., do., for gates at 10 per 



cent 9 60 



Kent of land lost by fence 6 feet 



wide = 4. 36 acres at $5 per acre . 21 80 



Total $187 40 



The foregoing estimate has been made 

 with the assistance of a thoroughly prac- 

 tical farmer in the Township of East 

 Whitby; and we are of the opinion, 

 that although the cost of such a fence 

 must necessarily vary much in different 

 localities, the cost of material and labor 

 here submitted may be regarded as a 

 fair average for the whole Province. 



5. Your Committee are of the opinion 

 that the kind of fence as usually con- 

 structed in the back country, involves 

 a much greater annual expenditure than 

 the one here described. A common 

 snake fence of the same length will 

 require about 26,000 rails, and are 

 usually made of Basswood, Pine, Elm, 

 Ash, &c. Supposing these to be hauled a 

 distance of one mile, they will cost about 



$30 per 1,000, or $780 00 



Labor in setting up at $4 per 100 



rods 48 00 



Preparing and setting 16 sets of 



Bars at $2 per set 32 00 



Total $860 00 



Such a fence is estimated to last about 

 10 years. The bars about half that 

 time. The annual charge for such a 

 fence would therefore be : 



Interest on $860 at 6 per cent $51 60 



^timated average annual charge 



for repairs and for permanent 



maintenance at 15 per cent., or. . 129 00 

 Extra do., do., for Bars at 20 per 



cent 6 40 



Rent of land lost by fence 12 feet 



wide = 8.72 acres at $5 per acre . 43 60 



Total $230 60 



Showing an annual expenditure on a 

 farm thus fenced of $43 20 for perma- 

 nent maintenance greater than on the 

 fence as first described. 



6. The estimate, therefore, in the 

 second paragraph of the previous Report 

 of two dollars per acre per annum seems 

 a moderate one, and your Coinmittee 

 are of the opinion that if farmei*s were 

 not compelled to fence against their 

 neighboui-s' cattle, they could protect 

 their crops and their own cattle by live 

 fences, the trees forming wind-breaks, by 

 the use of hurdles and otherwise, (which 

 would add much to the general beauty 

 of the country, and thereby greatly 

 enhance the value of the land), at less 

 than one quarter of the yearly expendi- 

 ture above shown, or — in other words — 

 that the farmer of every 100 acres of 

 land in Ontario could realize a clear 

 yearly profit over and above wli;at he 

 is now doing (if every owner of stock 

 were compelled by law to keep them 

 enclosed) of $150. 



7. That the foregoing figures, show- 

 ing the unnecessary but compulsory 

 annual expenditure of $1 50 per acre 

 for all cultivated land by the unwise 

 laws at present in force in this Pro- 

 vince, have been carefully prepared, 

 and therefore, by applying them to 

 communities of farms, we find that the 

 annual loss from this cause to the large 

 Township of London, in the County of 

 Middlesex, having a cultivated area of 

 nearly 70,000 acres, is over $100,000. 

 The Township of Mariposa, in the 

 County of Victoria, having cleared land 

 to the extent of neaily 48,000 acres, 

 loses $72,000 annually. The Medel 

 Farm at Guelph loses by the same 

 means annually about $800. These 

 figures when applied to the whole Pro- 

 vince assume gigantic proportions, for 

 we find from Official Rc^ports that there 

 are at the present time between eleven 

 and twelve millions of acres under 



