Advantages of Soiling. 55 



be divided and cultivated with precise reference to 

 the state of the soil, when the plow runs the length 

 of the furrow determined by the judgment of the 

 proprietor." His farm at one time had five miles of 

 interior fence (equal to 1,600 rods), of which he 

 says, " I have not now one rod of interior fence ; of 

 course, the saving is great, distinct, and undeniable." 

 My own farm was at one time divided into seven- 

 teen fields, which required over 1,000 rods of inte- 

 rior fence, the interest on the cost of which would 

 pay the taxes on the entire property, or pay for all 

 extra labor of soiling twelve or fourteen head of 

 stock, to say nothing of the cost of yearly repairs. 

 I built some 300 rods of fence soon after coming on 

 the farm. It hardly made a showing compared to 

 what was needed. It would have required an out- 

 lay of $1,000 to put all the fences in proper shape, 

 and for what? Simply to keep twelve head of stock 

 from destroying the crops. Each field must be 

 fenced, for, by the rotation of crops, each field was 

 in turn pastured. 



Reader, if you are a farmer, don't build another 

 rod of fence until you have given the soiling system 

 a fair trial and find it a failure. Says D. S. Curtis 

 on the cost of fencing, in the Agricultural Report of 

 1859: "The most ordinary plain board fences cost 8 

 to 10 shillings per rod, and more in many places, 

 while rail fences are often still more costly. But 

 taking the lowest estimate, $i per rod, the expense 

 of enclosing an eighty-acre lot would be $480 ; two 

 cross fences, one each way, throwing the lot into 



