190 The Farmer^s Business Handbook 



lU. ROAD FENCES 



Road fences in New York, and in many other 

 states, are no longer obligatory, as stock running 

 wild upon the highway is regarded as trespassing, 

 and the owner of such stock is subject to penal- 

 ties for its trespasses. It should, however, be 

 remembered that the public has the right to use 

 the highway for driving stock and that the owner 

 of land along an unfenced highway cannot re- 

 cover for damage done by stock in transit along 

 such highway, when accompanied by suitable 

 drivers or attendants, without the fault of the 

 latter. 



We cannot leave the subject of road fences 

 without calling attention to the fact that in some 

 states there are express provisions for " live 

 fences" along highways. These provisions are 

 usually to the effect that the commissioners of 

 highways will give written permission to any 

 one whose land borders upon a highway, to move 

 his fence out a distance sufficient to allow the 

 growing of a hedge, which shall afterward become 

 the highway fence at that point. The fences are 

 usually allowed to remain out for a considerable 

 period of time, often as long as ten years, in order 

 to allow the hedge to grow to a sufficient height 

 and density to render unnecessary any other 

 fence. It is not generally allowable to set out 



