FARMERS' REGISTER— FENCES. 



753 



To the Editor of the Faiiucrs' Keijistcr. 



PREJUDICES AGAINST MARL, AND THE GREAT 

 LOVE OF FENCES ENTERTAINED BY FARM- 

 ERS OF VIRGINIA. 



Sir: 



Necessity is the mother of invention, and nothing 

 but stern necessity will make men, or at least us 

 Virginians, move on in any other way than that 

 in wliich their forefathers have trod. Would you 

 believe it, sir, that three out of four farmers will 

 laugh you in the lace while you m ay be Iccturuig 

 upon the subject of marl, o.nd many an honest and 

 good man, wiU reply to any praise that you may 

 bestow on calcareous manures, that our Ibreliithers 

 got along veiy Avell, and they see no reason why 

 we should not be able to do the same; that there 

 can be no virtue in any such thing as that. Some 

 have said, thal^if there was any virtue in what is 

 called marl, they would make their lands lich 

 at once; hence they began, and soon over-dosed 

 the land, and have smce declared a perpetual war 

 agahist all marls, lime, and all calcareous earth. 

 Others naturally disposed to be prejudiced against 

 Ldl innovations upon old habits, readily seize hold 

 of the very unfair trial of those Avho have not 

 used this manure properly, and condemn the whole 

 theoiy, and call you Aviid and \'isionaiy; and 

 though the lands on * * * * * * river 

 abounds in marl and calcareous manures, yielduig 

 from 50 to 80 ]>er-cent. (of lime) — naj", miUions of 

 it, can be obtained, not three feet below the sur- 

 face of the earth, and much of it upon tlie top of 

 the earth, yet such are the prejudices of the good 

 people, that few, very {ew, will use it. 



Upon the subject of the benefits of marl, I want 

 lo give you before long, my humble views, and 

 particularly hi relation to clover. I discover, 

 wherever I have used the marl or lime freelj^, that 

 clover succeeds very well: and if I can possibly 

 make out to divide my little larm in the way I 

 finally contemplate, I should like for you to pay 

 me a visit, if in the reach of possibihty,' that I 

 might be enabled to have a full and free chat with 

 you, and that you might yourself see the disad- 

 vantages that I ha\e labored under, and what 

 really should be thought of the benefit resulting 

 from the use of calcareous manures. If I had 

 such, (and on such land) as are lying in millions 

 of loads on ****** * river, then, 

 and tlien alone, Vv'ould I have a fair opportunity to 

 use it. 



JBut, sir, the greatest inconvenience that I labor 

 under is fencing — the jjublic road running through 

 my little farm, and as it is him alone that the lire 

 burns, or the shoe pmches, that will first cry out, 

 so it is your hundile servant that now takes up his 

 pen to protest against the present plan of Virginia 

 fences. I have long labored in the cause of fence- 

 reform — ^but as yet to no purpose. StiU, however, 

 I do not despair, but that the legislature will, if ap- 

 plication be properly made to them, suffer their 

 minds to get quiet long enough from President- 

 makmg, to attend to the wants of the farmers, the 

 bone and sinew of the country, and the support of 

 all. We grundile and growl about taxes, and 

 really, sir, of all taxes that the Virguiia fiuiner 

 ])ays, that of his fences is the dearest. Yes, ten- 

 fold dearer than all. I assert it without the fear of, 

 contradiction, that a million of dollars a year wdl 

 not pay the expenses of the Virginia farmers in 



Vol. I.— 95 



fencing, laying aside the timber which is wasted. 

 I hold it to be clear, that he who is prodigal and 

 wasteful, commits a sin in the eye of his Malierj 

 and really, sir, it would make the heart of any re- 

 flecting man ache to s5e the immense waste of 

 valualjlc timbers in very many ways, in getting 

 staves and lumber, and even in getting a few 

 logs. All this the peoj)le of Virginia will, in time, 

 want. Reason Avith them, and they ansAver you, 

 that they never shall ^vant in their day, and that 

 all those to come, must provide for themselves. 

 However, so it is, they go on cutting and slaying, 

 and wearing out their lands, clearing more, and 

 the last step they take is to remove to the far west, 

 leaving the land of their nativity, and the bones 

 of their fathers and mothers, to seek a new home: 

 when Virginia, and particularly Eastern Virginia, 

 might be made to sustain a much larger popula- 

 tion than she at this time does mamtain, and in- 

 stead of (in the language of the author of the 

 General JJcscript'wn of Virginia, being a sand 

 barren, and the pme tops waving over the fields, 

 and the worn out and exhausted fields continually 

 presenting themselves to the travellers' view; a 

 large proportion of the lands might be made pro- 

 fitable to the cultivator, and as pleasing to the 

 eye, as they now are otherwise. Nature has done 

 much for us, while we have done nothing for our- 

 selves. But to the point: remove the cause, and 

 you remove the disease. I would at once, put the 

 axe to the tree and destroy the whole of the de- 

 fective plant. But that is impossible; and, there- 

 fore, it is a subject that I will not now touch. But 

 by uniting, and pressing our wants, — na}', our 

 claims and demands, we may do mucla good. I, 

 therefore, respectfully propose, that a petition be 

 gotten up to the Virginia Legislature, praying 

 them to pass some such law as Pennsylvania and 

 New Jersey have, in relation to fences. That be- 

 ing done, the Virginia farmer will begin to see 

 the sun rise in splendor upon his labors; for then 

 he can work Avi'ih some cheerfulness. It can be 

 demonstrated to the plainest understanding, that 

 the fences of Virginia are the heaviest taxes in the 

 state; and next to them the road laws. If tlio 

 members of the legislature will not regard our just 

 complaints, and our final representations of the 

 wants of agriculture, and the true interest of the 

 country, then let us call a convention of farmers, 

 to meet in Petersburg or Richmond, upon the 

 fence sj-stem particularly. And I really believe^ 

 that we can send pur complaints home to the le- 

 gislature, so that they will be compelled, however 

 degrading they may think agriculture, to attend to 

 the real wants of the farmers; and if nothing shall 

 be done the next winter for our benefit, m the 

 spring of 1835 let us unite, and swear not to vote 

 for any man who will not rest long enough Irorrk 

 party politics to pay some little attention to the 

 rights of agriculture and tlie soil of Virginia. Yes, 

 sir, let us circulate throughout the countiy our pe-. 

 titions; flood the land with them, and Ave shall fi- 

 nally succeed. "What ! expend more than a miU 

 lion of dollars every yem* in fences to keep off « 

 parcel of poor liogs and catde that are not worth 

 any thing at oil ! I speak noAv, sir, as to my own 

 situation. I have just put U|) fences that have cost 

 me three hundred dollars — finished last Thursday 

 night — and to-day they are all down, laid pros- 

 trate by the wind?, and all the live stock in the 

 neighborhood (horees excepted,) arc »ot worth- 



