olG 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



teen years?, and vithoiit addition of seed. — 

 Tiiis metliod, of cour.s>i, lias its limitations. It 

 would not be available in the case of lands lying- 

 distant from the house ; but for those immediately 

 contiguous I say confidently that it cannot be ex- 

 celled. Every housekeeper of five persons pro- 

 duces annually several tons of this material, and 

 those who understandingly avail themselves of 

 this powerful resource will find little occasion, it 

 seems to me, to use Bomner's patent, guano, or 

 any other extraneous manure. Wm. Whiting. 

 Pembroke, Mass., 1855. 



WHAT DOES IT COST TO FENCE THE 

 COUNTRY? 



The amount of capital employed in the con- 

 struction and repair of fences in the United 

 States, would be deemed fobulous, were not tlie 

 estimates founded on statistical facts, which ad- 

 mit of no dispute. Burknap, a well known ag- 

 ricultui-al writer, says : 



"Strange as it may seem, the greatest invest- 

 ment in this country, the most costly productions 

 of human industry, is the common fences, which 

 divide the fields from the high\Yays, and separate 

 them from each other. No man dreams that 

 when compared with the outlay for those unpre- 

 tending monuments of art, our cities and our 

 towns, with all their wealth are left fav behind. 

 You will scarcely believe me when I say that the 

 fences of this country cost more than 20 times 

 the amount of specie that is in it." 



In Germany, and manj' other parts of Europe, 

 no fences are seen for miles, either between the 

 highlands and fields, or between the lots occupied 

 by different individuals. In some districts, the 

 boundaries of each proprietor are required by 

 law to be marked by trees, and the owners are 

 compelled to plant fruit and ornamental trees 

 upon the line of highways against their land, at 

 prescribed distances, and kept constantly grow- 

 ing. Public officers, at stated intervals, examine 

 and survey the streets and public vrays, and re- 

 port to the public authorities any failure of com- 

 pliance with these legal provisions. In some 

 parts of Germany, the highways are lined for 

 miles with rows of fruit trees, bending with fruit 

 over the passing traveller, adding grace and 

 beauty to the landscape, and refreshing him 

 with grateful shade. 



There seems to be in this country a mania for 

 fences. Not only are our fields and pastures en- 

 closed, but divisions and subdivisions of our farms 

 are made, and in addition to these, small yards 

 and gardens, close about our buildings, are often 

 multiplied till thoy mar the whole beauty of the 

 homestead. This is particularly noticeable 

 about old establishments. The first occupant 

 enclosed a small garden, and after it had grown 

 up to trees, he fenced off another for his vegota- 

 talilos. Then, from time to time, a small yard 

 for poultry, another for the calves, another for 

 the house, a barn yard, and so on, not omit- 



ting a front yard, follow, until an acre or two of 

 the best part of the farm is cut up like a chequer- 

 board, having neither utility nor beauty to com- 

 mend it. By and by, the old farm changes 

 hands, and the old rubbish is cleared awaj', and 

 a sudden and almost magical change occurs in 

 the scene. We see, at once, that system has 

 taken the place of accident and caprice, and good 

 taste has triumphed over conformity to old-fash- 

 ioned notions of convenience. 



We believe that, as a matter of economy, a 

 great change is required in the matter of fences 

 in New England. Fences are for two purposes, 

 protection from cattle and sometimes unruly boys, 

 and shelter from the wind and cold. In the first 

 place, we believe, that nearly all fences between 

 the highways and our fields, might be dispensed 

 with. But what, then, shall protect us from 

 cattle wandering at large, and from droves pass- 

 ing to market, and to and from pasture? 



As to droves of cattle, they are soon to cease. 

 The railroads convey them, nearly all, and if 

 they are still to travel by means of their own loco- 

 motives, how much more reasonable would it be to 

 compel their owners to drive them in yokes, or se- 

 cured by rupes, or otherwise, than to insist that 

 the owners of land shall fence them out a road 

 from the place where they are raised, to the mar- 

 ket towns. As to the cows and oxen, kept for 

 use on our farms, they might easily be conducted 

 in the same way to and. from their pastures. 

 Our pastures must still be enclosed. There is 

 much rough land that can profitably be used for 

 no other purpose. But the saving, in dispensing 

 with the fences about our fields, would be im-' 

 mense. No amendment of the law of the New 

 England States, generally, we apprehend is nec- 

 essary. Owners are not now obliged to fence 

 against cattle in the highways, but persons driv- 

 ing or suffering their cattle to run loose ii. the 

 road, are bound to see that they do no h' 

 All that is needed is, that public opinion, which 

 rules everything else in our country, should be 

 set right on this subject. 



As to shelter from the wind and cold, we ap- 

 prehend that a rail fence or a stone wall around 

 a field, affords but very little. For gardens and 

 fields even in exposed positions, shelter is often 

 necessary, and fences may sometimes be profitably 

 constructed with this view. Generally, however, 

 a judicious planting of belts of pine or hemlock 

 trees, on the northerly and westerly sides of our 

 lots, will be found far more effectual and econom- 

 ical than anything else, except for very small en- 

 closures. 



We see many subdivisions of farms, which 

 seem to us worse than useless. Fields are often 

 divided into two, three, five or ten acre lots, 

 which had much better remain in one. This is 



