Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1866-02-08
Legality OF highway Fences.

Legality OF Highway Fences.
Mr.. EDIToR: As tho owner of a COW
was msde to pay some fifteen dollars the
other day in this County for letting her out
to run at large in violation of law, please
publish the remarks of Mr.. French. BY
the way. II is not the poor in Belmont
County that let their stock run at large, but
generally the richest men we have. As the
Law now is in Ohio, am bound under heavy
penalty to fence in all my own stock, and
not TO fence out my neighbors. But some
men Of many acres not living on our great
road will drive their stock into it-sup-
posing that they lose all the pasture on the
road unless their stock is let lose upon the
neighborhood to eat it. The law is good
enc and will have to be enforced; also, the
law making it almost Penitentiary offence
to 90 into an orchard or garden.
OHIO.
Mr.. French says:
why do you maintain a fence on the
public bighwayP 1t il be to keep your own
cattle upon your ground, it is mere ques-
ton Of economy, convenience and taste for
you to settle for yourself. Certainly, you
would not have the assurance to ask your
neighbor to maintain fence to keep yeur
cattle on your own land, where they belong.
But many farmers never feed their fields,
nor suffer any beast Of their own to go at
large upon them. Yet nine-tenths Of those
farmers keep up costly fences with incoHve-
nient gates to be constantly opened and shut,
and for whst2 Why, simply to keep other
mems cattle off Of land where they have no
right to 20.
I" Let us look at this matter fairly. By
law, no man is bound to fence against q
highway. He may remove all his fences,
and all owners Of cattle are bound to keep
their cattle of his land, and every owner il
liable to pay all damages caused by his cat.
tie which go from the highway on to the
land OF another. IF a person wishes to take
his drove Of cattle, sheep OF swine along o
public road, it is his business and. not tha,
of abutting owners to see to it they keep in
the road. You would think it rather COO
piece of impudence if a neighbsr who has a
private right of way across your farm fol
half mile, should call some pleasant morn
ing and request you to build mile of fence
on each side of the path. because he wantet
to drive his pigs to market that way Ye
that is just what the farmers are doing con
stantly.
"The first legitimate reason Why ",
should fence against road is to keep oul
own cattle in our fields and pastures. Whil'
We use pastures, we must, OF course, eDclos
them, because in our small way of farminl
! and with our high prices of labor it is cheap
er to fence than to employ herdsman an,
shepherds, as is practised in regions of OF
, tansiva nrairiaa and hilla
No doubt, however, many fields are On
closed where the fencing costs more than al
that it saves. In many cases it is q ha,
policy to feed fields at all, and many far
me,s p, actise it who admit that isjtad hut
bandry At least. il is doubtful whethe
the advantage of feeding moving fields i
any csse alone iusti s permanent fencing
: Where land is valuable and manure
not to be bought, the advantages of soilins
, especially for milch cows, are very great
Manure is worth ten dollars cord in tn
valley of the Connecticut, to use on tobacc
fields and enough cannot be bought at this
price. BY soiling. We save quantities of mar
ure, as we'll as fencing, and we prevent tread
ing up our fields, and killing out our -gras
by close feeding. p
"Shelter from winds is an object attaine
by hedges and close fences but not by rsi
and stone walls. and for ornament, merei
as snch, one would hardly expend his none
and taste in erecting wood or stone fences
"Our catalogue Of the objects Of fencin
highways is very short. Like the man
E orchard, which he said was not very larg,
rs it consisted only Of one scattering tire,
. onr list Of advantages. except as ia pasture,
consists Of the single one of enabling us
feed our moving fields"