268 PHASES OF FARM LIFE. 



The time for fence - building is usually between 

 seed-time and harvest, May and June ; or in the fall 

 after the crops are gathered. The work has its pic- 

 turesque features, the prying of rocks ; supple 

 forms climbing or swinging from the end of the great 

 levers, or the blasting of the rocks with powder ; the 

 hauling of them into position with oxen or horses, or 

 with both ; the picking of the stone from the green- 

 sward; the bending, athletic form of the wall lay- 

 ers ; the snug new fence creeping slowly up the hill 

 or across the field, absorbing the windrow of loose 

 stones, and when the work is done much ground 

 reclaimed to the plough and the grass, and a strong 

 barrier erected. 



It is a common complaint that the farm and farm 

 life are not appreciated by our people. We long for 

 the more elegant pursuits, or the ways and fashions 

 of the town. But the farmer has the most sane and 

 natural occupation, and ought to find life sweeter, if 

 less highly seasoned, than any other. He alone, 

 strictly speaking, has a home. How can a man take 

 root and thrive without land ? He writes his history 

 upon his field. How many ties, how many resources 

 he has ; his friendships with his cattle, his team, his 

 dog, his trees, the satisfaction in his growing crops, 

 in his improved fields ; his intimacy with nature, with 

 bird and beast, and with the quickening elemental 

 forces ; his cooperations with the cloud, the sun, the 

 seasons, heat, wind, rain, frost. Nothing will take 

 the various social distempers which the city and arti- 



