Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1871-01-19
Agricultural Items.

FENCES. In the West agitation is still
continued on the subject of fencing. Some
parties are in favor of timber fences others
Of making them of living plants, and
again another is in favor of abolishlng all
fences.
This last class is by no means power
less one, either in the numbers which con-
stitute it or the figures which it commands.
We have been much interested in long
argument against fences In a Western
journal, and as we think it is quite as
strong as anything likely to be put on
paper in favor of that view, we give the
following copious abstract:
Fences are a heavy cost to farmers,
which may be easily dispensed with. To
illustrate Take farm of only 16O acres,
quarter section, which is half mile
square, one side of which lies on the high
way, the other three sides joining other
farms, whose owners are supposed to make
half of the /" line fences" To inclose
this, the owner must make the road fence,
16O rods, and half of three other sides,
240 rods-in all, 400 rods; and this only
incloses his farm but with our plan this
is all that would be required, except a
little to enclose yards, gardens, &c. :;
while on the common plan of pasturing,
about as much more would be required for
cross fences, and to lay off separate fields.
This fencing will cost at the very least,
one to two dollars per rod-say five hun
dred dollars without any allowance for
after repairs enough to feed the usual
stock for years; nearly all of which, by
our plan would be saved or, if expended
in additional labor and seed, would return
annually at least FIVE times that much in
produce enough to pay for feeding all
the stock in this pleasant, quiet way, and
leave a large MARCIA of profits to the
generator. above what he could realize in
the usual manner.
Besides, there is 10 loss of time and
space by the. frequent turnabouts," in
blowing and dragging and harvesting
smaller fields, caused by many division
fences, and in opening and closing bars,
gates and gaps-hindrances which all
farmers know, but do not usually take
into account, but which will tell consuming
time during the best seasons and by
weather for work. So much for the loss
or saving in the matter of fences alone !;
and by careful calculation of all the items
and details, the farmers will find the &C
count still greater in favor of feeding and
absence of fences for the labor and money
expended in fences, if judiciously expend-
ed in additional cropping and greensoilling
will be found to return much greater gains
than are realized by the pasturing practice.
And then, if the new plan were generally
adopted and all farmers kept up their
stock, as is the case in many of the best
farming districts of Europe, most or all of
the line fences would be unnecessary, and
that great expense saved. In many por-
tons of our country the cost of fences is
far greater than the cost of the land.
Now to us these arguments are unanswer-
able as far as they 60. Our only objec-
tons to them are pretty much like those
made to moral questions. For instance,
men will argue very nicely what beauti-
full world this would be if there were no
sin or misery in it. Truly it would, but
yet who ever expects to see it in that con-
dition knows he will have to live long.
The world has never yet been able to get
along without fences, and even those COM
munities which, in love with the abstract
figures and ideas, have tried to do without
them, have returned to the pesky things.
We think there is always some good in
the acts of experience as we'll as IN the
figures of active brains.