St. Landry democrat., 1878-09-07
Editor DEMOCRAT, Opelousas La.

DEAR SIR-I wish to open subject
through your valuable paper of vast
interest to the farmers OF st. Landry,
aud that subject is fencing" Any
plan which will reduce that enormous
tax on the planter, one-half or two
thirds, must be greatly to their interest,
and should arrest their proioundest at
tention. Without further parley, / will
give plan, and await their Judgment,
or the introduction OF better remedy
by some more experienced farmer. My
plan is, that the Police Jury pass inn
mediately law to take effect the first
OF January next preventing the running
at large OF all small animals, such as
hogs, sheep and goats. The way fencing
at present has to be built to protect
crops, it must be made close and strong
ilom the ground up, in order to keep
out small stock. With such law, |
can safely say that at least seventyfve
per cent of the farmers OF the thickly
populated poitions Of the parish have
at atpresent nn their farms enough fencing,
properly bult, to protect their crops
from stock, cattle and horses for four or
five years, without expending one dollar,
except for nails and ditching. With
such law in force, planters can fence
against large stock with two planks,
pieux or lats, with a good ditch.
Good bitches are greatly needed on
nine-tenths of the plantations in this
parish, the country generally being very
level, and at the same time that these
ditciles drain ourlands, they will greatly
assist In the way of fencing. Ny plan
OF building fence Is, to plant out my
posts, say eight feet apart, in straight
line, where wish to make my fence, |
dig a ditch, say three feet wide by two
feet deep, eighteen inches from my posts
on each side, throwing the dirt between
the bitches, making levee at least two
feet high, then nail on two lats, one
eighteen inches above the leyee and
the other eighteen inches above the
first, making my fence seven feet high
from the bottom Of the ditch this fence
I use around my pasture for the purpose
of keeping up my horses and cattle, Of
course hogs and sheep can pass under
the lats, but no large stock attempt to
cross it. Such a fence including the
double ditch posts and lats and putting
up the fence, using my own wagon and
team for hauling, does not cost me over
three dollars and fifty cents per acre, or
two hund,ed and eight feet in length,
and as fences are now built of plank or
pisux IL will cost at least nine or ten
dollars per acre, without the double
ditch. Good timber for fencing is get
ting very scarce in alf the thickly settled
portions of the parish, and those plan
tels who yet have good timber can great
ly. economize it by splitting lats instead
of rails.
1t takes by my plan only fifty-two lats
to make one acre (20s feet) of fence and
it will take at least two hundred and
fifty rails to make the same distance,
taking ten times the amount Of timber,
ten times the amount of hauling and
five times the labor in splitting the rails.
As to the percentage of planters bene-
fitted by hogs and sheep running at
large,I think it is very small and if
there is any portion of the parish very
thinly populated, where there is any
profit in such stock at large, let the
Police Jury exempt that portion for the
present. There are but few hogs and
sheep in the farming districts of the
parish, and those who pay the taxes,
keep up the fences. and raise the hogs