Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-05-09


goats. but we can safely leave such farmer
as he Is: he can take care of himself.
Next lives farmer B., an industrious,
skillful. honest, but poor man. He has only
fifty acres. half of which is cleared and
under fence, the balance in timber, which
perhaps can Weld only one more crop Of
rails TO fence in bis field. His hogs are Of
the regular razor-back stock, his cattle Of
the wiry kind, his sheep knotty, and his
team a pity to behold. all this stock lives
in the woods, and deteriorates from year to
year. When the horses are wanted his son
must hunt two hours to find them, and thus
tie time most appropriate to work is lost.
His COWS also must be hunted over an area
of two to four miles, perhaps the horse
must be unhitched from the plow to per-
form the task, and if they be found late,
galloped home, yielding only a few cup
fuls of milk, unfit for human use.
Thus we see that two boys yearly
lose time enough to raise a crop
to clothe and school themselves with.
This farmer sells his calves at $2-5, his
hogs at the same price and his colts viii
scarcely bring $40. He has no manure, for
all that is left on somebody else's lands;
hence his fields, even with the best manage
ment, get poorer and poorer every year,
until sc last goaded to desperation by his
inability to meet taxes, the wants OF ms
family, ETC., ETC., we see him in bis covered
wagon vending bis way toward the far
West. as he saws, TO better his condition,
which is the spring that moves emigration.
Now while we are Justify calling for immi-
grafton from abroad, would it not be as
well to work keeping our own people at
H. e1,o1 70
only BIS Wiry bull, but himself also fenced
out, both getting good mouthful only by
jumping lawful inclosure?
Then comes G, who was raised on
small farm, learned mechanical trade, but
following the turn of his mind, came back
to the scene Of his childhood. he is indus
trious, clever, reads all about new stocks,
implements, the way to improve farm,
ETC., etc. Half of his small capital he in
vests in fine teams, cows, sheep and pigs;
one-fourth he must spend on building a
lawful fence, and the rest is left for seed and
subsistence. At the end of the year he can
show fine crop of grains and forage, but
his increase of stock is mixed with the
Wiry, knotty and razor-back, and on making
calculation he finds that in the season he
lost thirty days of his most valuable time
in hunting for stock, and he feels not quite
sure that the law which privileges one man
to feed his stock on the lands of another,
is beneficial to the poor, for he lost as much
on the inferior offsprings of his stock as
was made on the produce of the land.
Next year brings the same results, and at
the end of five years he finds that,
although his stock increased very
much in numbers, it could scarcely bring in
more money than the capital at first invest
ed. In a word, he sees that poor BIS fate
stares him in the face. He fences in 80
acres of woods for meat cattle, 20 acres for
sheep and 80 acres for pigs, sell all his ami
| mails, buys anew fine breed, and to his
hearts content, sees that at the end of two
wears his capital thus invested is almost
doubled; but during all that time his fami-
" wanted great many comforts, the chill
dren had to 90 thin clad and without
| schooling. Therefore upon deliberation he
| pens the following msxims in his diary:
1. The laborer is fully entitled to all the
benefits of his hire.
2. The law that protects money In the
pocket, chest or vault, ought to protect it
when invested in land.
8. Any law encouraging pillage on ones
property is a cheat, snare, delusion, and
be who avails himself Of this privilege, viii
lose in the end, as 1 did with experimenting
to raise stock on other peoples land.
4. To control the quality of the offspring
of stock, one must have enclosures to keep
| them up.
Lastly, let us look on farmer D, who is
an honest but thriftless man; his ten acres
of WORKOUT field of sedge-grass, his ten
acres Of half cultivated corHfeld, fenced
| in by 8 few old rails and brush, and his
thirty acres ofwoodland, which, by chopping
the good timber for boards, cross-ties, rails
and fire-wood, is almost worthless to the
/ owner, tell the tale palmer than words can
describe. He works yoke Of scrub-steers
to raise corn for his bread-to haul his
boards and cross-ties and to exchange them
for groceries; but these steers, as well as
his cows and pigs, they all live upon others
| lands.
Now, ask these four men, whether they
are for fence or no fence? A. and G. will
say they are for fence altogether; B. has
not land enough to fence in to accommo-
| modate his stock, hence he is for the old
| law; but since he had such a poor success
under that law, he is not sure whether it
would not be better to fence in the stock.
AS for D. he is opposed to the change of the
law; In fact, he is opposed to all kind of
fences, his six yellow boys keep out all in
truders, and if the law must be changed, he
wants fence only around the cultivated
fields, and all other lands left free to all.
| Why! from boyhood be used to claim every
hollow tree in AS swamp while hunting
the fox, postum and coon, and now it is all
fenced in and he cannot have any fun; his
stock, to within last year, had a fine pasture
on C.'s bottom land, now that is fenced in
too; only last week he wanted to sell COW
and could find no buyer, when said COW
proposed to sleep on the railroad track, was
killed by the engine, and he pocketed the
money; and finally, because he thinks that
even his dogs looked fatter when lea
fence was used, and more stock, particu-
larry sheep, were grazing in the woods.
This is the sentiment in regard to this
question over the country. Put it to the
ballot and the present law will be main
tanned. by large majority, since the farmer
of the B. and d. sort are more numerous
The truth is, the recommendation to take
the fences from around the farming lands
and put them around pastures is scarcely a
relief; it is simply shifting the burden from
right to left shoulder. Besides, what shall
the man do who has neither timber, stone
| nor the money or strength 10 fence! AnC
how shall city and town folks keep COWS
when they have no lands at all 10 fence in {
am afraid we are like the man who had
the wolf, goat and cabbage to convey across
the river. But that puzzle can be easily
solved. So can our question. Why build
fences at all? The man who has money tC
furnish, and family to occupy only three o.
the eight rooms of his house, is not bound
by law to have burglar-proof lock or have
no redress against providers. Why not pur
sue the same course toward the farmer who
has the means to till only 25 out of his 10(
acres? In the next article an old plan will
be submitted to your readers by which
fences may be dispensed with and cattle
can be raised of fine stock and cheaper and
on q larger scale than by fencing in. A. K
WENNECSEE NEWC