BARB WIRE FENCES. 207 



sary the strict fencing of cattle, and only makes more strict 

 pasture enclosures where free range is abolished? 



In Virginia and other States where the " no-fence " sys- 

 tem, so called, exists, and has extended to other States, any 

 and all townships and counties, or parts of the same, have the 

 option to do away with the General Fence LaAV, but only by 

 establishing and maintaining on their outer boundary a legal 

 fence, with gates at all highways. This is therefore not a 

 doing away with fences, for, besides these outer fences in 

 common, all beasts kept within the territory enclosed must 

 be strictly fenced in by their owners. 



Said a writer in the " Rural New Yorker," 1856, reviewing 

 the no-fence theory, as described by admiring letter-writers 

 from Europe, and its advocates in this country : — 



" No system of management could be adopted in which fences could 

 be dispensed with without a loss or outlay in some other channel 

 amounting to more than the annual estimated average cost per acre for 

 the maintenance of fences. He utters what is the American farm 

 verdict: 'We cannot get along without fences as a necessary evil, if 

 such they are.' " 



THE HERD LAWS. 



With their advance from the conditions of first settlement, 

 our American communities have increased- the stringency of 

 herd Uiws. But this, through generations past, has pointed 

 to stricter fencing where fencing is required. 



Let us seek within reasonable limits some answer to the 

 inquiry, 



WHY DO WE FENCE? 



Evidently the rule of common law will not do away with 

 fences, for England is the home of the common law, yet she 

 is to-day the closest fenced country in the world. 



Mixed husbandry, arable and pasture, for crops and 

 herds, on the same form, large or small, will always make 

 fences necessary. Much will be saved by larger fields. 

 Small fields can be thrown together to the great saving of 

 fences and the ,soil they hold out of use. In most of the 

 States, roadside fences can be done away with if the farmer's 

 peace of mind permits it ; but this only because he and his 

 neighbors take good care of the fences that restrain their 

 beasts. The general law of estrays is essentially the same 



