244 SIGNS AND SEASONS 



the farm, or when I owned such and such a span of 

 horses," indicating a period thirty, forty, or fifty 

 years back. "This other, we built the summer so 

 and so worked for me," and he relates some inci- 

 dent, or mishap, or comical adventures that the 

 memory calls up. Every line of fence has a his- 

 tory; the mark of his plow or his crowbar is upon 

 the stones ; the sweat of his early manhood put them 

 in place; in fact, the long black line covered with 

 lichens and in places tottering to the fall revives 

 long- gone scenes and events in the life of the farm. 



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 

 picturesque features, — the prying of rocks ; supple 

 forms climbing or swinging from the end of the 

 great levers, or the blasting of the rocks with pow- 

 der; the hauling of them into position with oxen 

 or horses, or with both; the picking of the stone 

 from the greensward; the bending, athletic form of 

 the wall-layers; the snug new fence creeping slowly 

 up the hill or across the field, absorbing the wind- 

 row of loose stones; and, when the work is done, 

 much ground reclaimed to the plow 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. 



