Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-04-27

JCO lengthy, VIII posi- pOH6 al present any
arguments in refutation of the theory of Mr..
Early, but promise TO give them at an early
day. L. B. II.
FENCE Or Nc FENCE.
To the Editors of the Union and American:
! GAINESVILLE, April II, 1872.-I see
the question Of sFence or no Fence" is at
tracing considerable attention, exciting
| quite an interest, and producing some dis
cussiOn through the columns Of your valu-
able paper. l for one am decidedly in
! favor of no fence, from the following con-
siderations. First that it viii save consid-
able hard labor, and 4 large amount of
/ dollars and cents. Secondly, it will lessen
| the quantity, and improve the quality CT
stock, and Thirdly, we will be necessarily
driven to it in the course Of time, for the
want ofmaterial out Of which to make so
/ much fence. And the sooner we ADOPT the
! plan. the better, before consuming all our
timber. And doubt not, that there are
numbers Of farmers to-day, on Yellow
creek, who were perhaps opposed to the
/ plan of no fence, that would be perfect
| IL willing, and more than anxious, to adopt
! it forthwith, from the fact that the largest
! rise in The waters that has occurred for q
/ number Of years, has swept thousands upoa
/ thousands Of rails from around the farms
/ and left them exposed to the rava2es
! Of all the loose stock in the vicinity.
| Many Of the farmers had their ground
nearly all broken up, some We're
/ planting corn, others were laying
/ of corn rows to plant, and instead
| Of pursuing their ordinary business Of
! breaking and planting, they are now csm-
| PEELED to stop, during this busy season. Ill
| The spring Of the year, aud build thousands
/ Of panels Of fence before proceeding with
/ their regular business Of farming. And
/ these rises occur very frequently, particu-
/ lally in the spring, after the farmers have
| once repaired their fences. And now with
regard to my first proposition, that it wills
save labor and money, let the above fact
abundaDtly prove. And further, I
will say that there are seventy.fve farms
on Yellow Creek, around each Of
which, upon an average, there are 2O,OCU
rails, at 9 cost Of Sl.Zj per 100, would
amount to SIS,I50. l am satisfied that two
thirds Of this amount, $4,000, would be
amply sufficient, with the rails now already
I on hand, to iGclose land enough to keep up
. and pasture all the stock in .he same local
| ity Of every description, and keep them i'm
| better condition and finer marketable order
than they would be, TO let them run out
and lie loose about on the commons, ueg-
. lacted and scattered ali over the country.
Hence the quantity would be diminished,
the quality improved. and a clear gain of
$3.50 10 the farmers would be realized.
AjgeEpeTleuCe is that one SOW and eight PIGS
well fed and properly attended TO, is worth
more than two sOWS and sixteen pigs neg
lec'ed and compelled to root hog, or die. |
killed a hog myself that had beea tolerablv
we'll attended 10, a little over twelve
months old that weighed 262 pounds. Pigs
raised on The mast, "the mama of the
forest" are generally like acorn calves,
cT0ykedzleggsd light bodied, hump backed,
and heavy, thick, doformed ears, that il
would be eX9edienl to tie rocks
to their tails to prevent them
from turning somersaUlts when they attempt
to Eout for a living. l am satisfied that my
premises are correct and deductions legiti-
mate, and consequently my second PROPOSE
ton that il vii! lessen the quantity and iu-
prove the quality Of stock, is established.
If 2lthe larger timbeIs that now beauty
and adOrn the forests, are converted into
rails and saw-logs, the medium size into
crib, barn, stable, house logs and cross ties,
and the smallest into fire wood in
a greater proportion than they are repro
ducod and grow up, we viii be necessarily
compelled in the course of time to resort to
some other means to fence in the world
with a crooked fence ten rails high, staked
aud-fdered, and leave the rest of mankind
out il the cold. Hence, my third PROPOSE
ton is inevitably demonstrated.
Abraham Lincoln, in his palmiest days,
never split half as many rails I have
1i0ated down Yellow Greek in the
last day and night, a clean, clear
loss to everybody. Like David Nelson
who paid Is cents a dozen for a load of
eggs, carried them TO Clarbsville and sold
them for 10 cents a dozen, came back home
Boosting that he had made $40 clear loss on
his load. l would be as far from advgc +
ing the passage of a law that would operate
prejudicial 10 the poor man, Or small farmer,
Or prove detrimental to his interest, as any
man living, if I knew it, or believed il, for
! belong 10 that class myself And | would
assert, advocate and maintain his
rights and privileges as far as [ was
able. But it seems to me that, it
the land owners have the right
to withhold and debar us from exercising
privileges on their improved land, they un-
qucstiouably would have the same right
and powers over their unimproyed. Not
withstanding the principle laid down by the
great English commentator, Sir William
blackstone. Henc-, by q combination of
land owners, they could, if they were SO
disposed, exclude oar little ''wiry COW" that
furnishes us milk aud butter, aud orr "lit-
tie kuOlty sheep whose fleece protects our
children from the chilling blasts Of winter,
trUl ihejC WOGUlud5,AUd We would have no
Cggtdt58 right TO complain. And as for the
freedman, 1 would neither use an argument
detrimental 10 his interest, nor throw an
Ctstgrla iu his way, bat would rejoice ut
lis prosperity ana intellectual improvement.
but The met is, be is not caring much about
fs>ce or no fence, so he can get plenty to
cat and have nothing TO DO. And ne will
play jhe fiddle at parties for the white folks
30 dance during Christmas times, and at
hrau-dsnCes in tie summer, if the stock
destroy al his corn, and the worms eat up
all his tobacco. / do net know Mr.
4. B., of Indian Mound, neither DO
/ attempt TO answer his able argr-
mant fully, but merely aliUfe 10 it,
respectfully and honestly differ with him in
opinion. / doubt not, that he is 4 gentle !
man N every respect, q man Of ability and
great research, and honestly and sincerely
believes what Ire SAYS, But Z must say la
conclusion, tda5 / am impressed with The
belief aiIa5 one liue Durham COW, well fed |
andpr0parly cared for, would be wOrthmOre |
to lhaJ small farmer, than two or three |
"Luo wiry," crooked horn, common
scrub stock, thrown entirely upon the !
gross II the woods during the summer and |
a few saUCls il the winter.
Aud one Aalf dozen fine sheep inclosed |
upon q GOOD aIass l0fWould be worth more |