FARM LAYOUT 376 



with rail or stump fences that helped to keep off 

 some of the wild animals. Much of the land was more or 

 less stony. The stones were used to make stone fences, 

 or were piled into the field lines. In this haphazard way, 

 the field lines became obstacles. Brush and trees promptly 

 grew so that the fence lines often became 10 to 15 feet 

 wide. In the early days, small fields and irregular shapes 

 were not a very serious matter. Such fields were not 

 obstacles to the scythe, grain cradle, and hoe. A five-acre 

 field was larger in terms of labor than a 20-acre field is 

 to-day. At the same time that small fields were developed, 

 small farms also became the rule. Lumber for building 

 houses was cheap. A small area was all that could be 

 worked with the poor equipment. In addition, lumbering 

 furnished occupation, so that the farm was not the only 

 means of support. The public roads usually developed 

 in the same haphazard manner. 



Conditions have now changed. Larger farms and larger 

 fields are needed, and irregular shapes are serious diffi- 

 culties. Where the obstacles are not too serious, it pays to 

 gradually combine fields, so as to get fields of good sizes 

 and shapes. 



In Figure 82 is shown the layout of 8 farms in Western 

 New York. This is in a prosperous farming community. 

 As one rides by these farms, he does not realize how small 

 and irregular the fields are. Maps show the defects much 

 more strikingly than the farms do. Except for a hill on 

 one farm, there are no serious obstacles to laying out these 

 farms in any way desired. The land has gentle slopes. A 

 few open ditches would have to be filled. There are some 

 hedgerows that would have to be grubbed out, but not 

 many stones along the fence lines. The wood-lots could 

 not profitably be cleared in less than 20 years, because it 



