Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1872-04-05

HOUSEHOLD. TIE farmer readers Of the BuLLx.
TIN are cordially invited to write for 1t.
Herd Law.
WINTHROP, March 10, 1872.
Editor of State Register In
your issue of the 9th inst, I find an
article headed "A practical farmers
view of the Herd Law" in which
the writer confesscs that he was
surprised ut an article published
in the Zosoa Homestead, written by
farmer Briggs, Of Jasper county. I
did not see the article referred to,
but being q practical farmer in Blu
chanan county, / must confess that
I was surprised and very much
amused on reading farmer Robin
sons article, for Of all the argu-
ments l have ever heard or read
against the Herd Law his is farthest
from the point. From his argu-
ment one would suppose if the herd
law should be passed by our Legis-
lature, that every farmer in Iowa
would be obliged to throw down his
fences, and hire all his cattle, hogs,
sheep, mules and asses herd
cd. He has terrible array Of fig
ures, which l presume are practi-
cally correct, for he seems to have
calculated very closely.
Now my idea Of the herd law, is
that it will make every farmer fence
FOR his own stock instead Of fenc-
ing AGAINST everybody elsc's stock.
l presume that the neighborhood in
which l live, and am acquainted
for fifteen or twenty miles around,
does not differ materially in refer
ence to the herd law. From all the
east half of the State, and any argu-
ment in favor of the law in this
neighborhood, will apply to any
neighborhood in the settled portion
of the State, with equal force
Along all the large streams in this
section of the State is a belt of tim
Der varying from few rods in
width to several miles. The early
settlers took tho most desirable To-
cations near the timber. AS the
settlers came in they radiated out
from the timber, taking the best Sc
lections they could get according to
price and terms, leaving in every
neighborhood some tracts of poor
land and occasionally piece held
by an eastern Spectator, at so high
4 price and unfavorable terms that
no one will buy it. The result is
that all over the country there re-
mains here and there an 80 or 100,
and in some places whole section or
more open to the commons. Every
farmer within mile or two Of each
piece calculates to use it as pas
ture, and as general thing every
piece has more stock running on it
than two such pieces would afford
feed for, and the stock in the fall
are spring poor. Thus the country
is filed with poor cattle. All our
early settlers necessarily came here
with limited means, barely enough
to make small payment on their
land, and make them house to live
in. They are compelled to make a
fence around all the land they i'm
prove, and without means and a
small amount of material. They
make fence of rails, or poles, or
boards, or wire barely sufficient to
turn cattle that have plenty to eat
outside. It don't take long for such
fences to get old, and very poor
and the farmars have had all they
could do to keep up their payments
and expenses without rebuilding
fences, and the result is that the cat
tie in every reighborhood of which
l have any knowledge have done
more damage to the crops of the
surrounding farmers, than woald
pay three times over for herding the
cattle, and l hear in every direction
of law suits to recover damages fol
crops destroyed. The courts are
powcrless to give redress, for no
one mile in twenty of the fences are
lawful. And l now say withou
fear Of successful contradiction,tha
for the past two years on an aver
age every head of cattle or horse
that has run on the commons ha.
done more than two dollars damage
to crops. l mean now in the thick
ly settled portions Of the State. Thu
damage is not alone to the crops
Every man who has considerable
amount of stock is great loser b!
leaving his stock to run alone OF
the commons. When the feed get
short the stock commences to rait
: around and the farmers, to protec
their crops, keep dogs worrying ant
chasing them back and forth across
the commons from morning unit
night, thus damaging the stool
more than enough to pay for herd
ing them, and the same practice will
be continued until every man is OBJ
liged to take care of his stock. /
every man was obliged to fence TO
his own stock and not against hi
neighbours stock, instead of build
ing a very poor fence around a quar-
ter section, he could build goot
fence around ten or twenty acres
and always have good feed and hi
stock at home, or if neighborhoot
has piece Of open prairie close a
hand a good hcrder can be hired t.
take care of the cattle through tn
grass season for one dollar and fit,
/ cents for each head of stock, which
is very much better in all cases TO
all concerned, whether we have tn
herd law or not. But we cannot &c
all to agree to do so until they ar
all obliged to by law. Farmer Rob
inson fears if we have Herd Law
that farmer Briggs may suffer b!
reason of his neighbours Pennyroya
Durham getting loose. The fact is
without the Herd Law the Penny
royals are loose all the time, ant
we arc all breeding from scrubs il
spite of all we can do. There is
law, believe, against bulls running
at large, but who enforccs it? II
my certain knowledge they are run
ming at large at all times in a cir
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