The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1878-04-05
VOL. XXII---NO. IA.
garllGers' Column.
"Speed the PLOtp.'
Pasturing the Roads.
10 the Editor Of The .IEais

SIR: am poor man with large family
l manage to keep one good cow, and as l con-
trive to feed her in winter when labor is
low and hard to find, have her pastured in the
summer at comparatively little expense. l say
| am poor man, and it is true {; but am not
nearly SO poor as l was before signed the pledge
and became u good temperance man. In that
poorer time l also owned COW. and wonder
| full animal she was indeed. She did great deal
more toward supporting the family than did
myself believe; nominally she pastured the
roads. She was known as a street cow, but
genius like hers was not to be restrained within
such narrow limits. Feeding peacefully along
the road sides, her watchful eye saw every pass
ing vehicle, guessed its destination and calcu-
lated the chances. There goes neighbor BIS cart
for the meadow beyond the corn-feld. The
careles hireling will put up but single bar at
the road fence, if even that. / shall have
taste of that growing corn, if not stomach full {;
and she fed innocently along, approaching the
bars till the man, after putting up single board
bar, had passed on to the meadow. Her lazy
quiet way now suddenly left her. She rushed
at the slender board, crushed it into film
ders at single stroke with her powerful head
and the next instant was devouring the corn. If
q yard gate was carelessly left open, she was al
ways at hand to rush in, and once within she was
perfect ''leveler." Her favorite place was to
stand in the middle of flower bed and feed on
the luXuriant grass of the border.
One of our nearest neighbors treated himself
to patent gravity gate with open hinges. |
suppose he charged the expense to our cow. 1t
was so arranged that nobody could leave itopen.
first noticed its Introduction Immediately after
Cherry had entered his yard by the always
left open little old-fashioned gate, one winters
day, and spoiled two beautiful evergreens. Moth
ing seemed to delight the COW more than the
fragrant smell of crushed firand pine. think
some of her ancestors must have been wild cat
tie of the Scotch highlands. AT least she de-
stroyed small forest of evergreens in the yards
of that neighborhood, and this was her princi-
pal business during the winter, when she could
no longer depredate in the fields. The patent
gate disappointed that cow amazingly for
while. She would follow any stranger whom she
saw approaching the house, feeling that he
would probably leave the old gate open as usual,
and then while the family were busy with their
visitors give her chance at the flower beds or
the garden; but to see the gate always closing
veXed her, and one day walked up to 1t she bold
ly applied her horns. Alas the open hinges;
the gate was tossed into the air, and the old cow
luXuriated in the back yard for an hour. At
last the boys saw her. They cornered her in the
fence, tied an old tin boiler, three tin pans and
the saw horse to her tail, aud then with cord
through her nose one of hen mounted upon her
back. The word was given and she started
Around and around she went, the boys hooiing
after her like many wild Indians and the tin
juggling like a Yankee pedlars wagon on
rough road. The burden on her mind seemed
to be to get that monkey of a boy of her back
aud she started for the wire clothes line. Sud
denly boy lay sprawling on the ground with a
red mark around his throat, from ear to car, to
the horror of his companions. But fortunately
lie was not Of the dyi z kind, while the COW
with bound went over the street fence TO come
into that yard by the same gate the next day
and the next day. But one Thursday neighDor
q. took his hinges over TO the shop ana had after
two hours work getting them out OF the post,
some large nuts made, and he did not greet me
very kindly as | stopped at the shop for little
gossip that morning. And | noticed too, that
my little girls were no more invited over TO his
house on Sunday afternoon where Mrs. Z. had
been accustomed to teach them pleasant stories
and to talk to them. On reflection it seemed to
me then, and more strongly now, that there was
that no Christian charity could con-
tinue to bear up under.
The quantity ofmik which that cow gave, and
the pounds of butter that my poor wife made of
it, if put down in figures, would astonsh you.-
AT first we supplied neighhor A., and at pay
ing price, too; but one day after "Cherry" had
broken into his garden and destroyed about
eighty cabbage plants that lie had sent twenty
miles for all failing that year in our district, he
declined to take the regular supply Of butter in
the evening, and my wife was obliged to take it
to the grocer, where, l am sorry to say, some of
it had to 20 TO settle a liquor bill my own
contracting; but this was the only store i'll our
where butter was purchased, and we
could not live on butter alone. The butter was
always excellent, but CHERRY" by her deprcda-
tons had now discouraged the market for her
own products to a considerable distance on every
road. 1t is true she often came home the worse
for her incursions into the enemy's territory,
but the fact that she was finally minus ear and
an opposite horn seemed in no way to diminish
her courage. | cannot say so much, perhaps,
after the loss about twenty inches of her tail,
which gave her fit Of the sulks which lasted
for a week. and her milk sensibly failed, and
that too at a very pressing season for Just at
that time, l was out of all paying work and
busy only in attending closely at the grocery
Now this grocer had an awkward way if poor
fellow let his liquor bill run on any length of
time, of charging the drinks on large black
board nailed up to the outside of his shanty
near the door, sometimes used also to advertise
his wares where the name and account appear
ed in large chalk letters, till the "needfnl' was
obtained to wipe it off. 1t is true, only desper-
ate cases went upon that board, and the board
ent pleaders at his bar that he could not other
wise discourage. My account had gone on III
creasing now some time, as would notice to
my dsmay each morning; but staggered out
toward home utterly careless and oblivious of
the fact every night. Things had run on so
about a week and my credit was evidently on the
wanc, when one morning us | came to plead for
an early drink, Lo !! the entire column was utter
ly erased not q chalk mark was on the board;
the door was slammed in my face. The suspi.
cion was, probably, that l had erased the ac-
count myself, but an early passer who had seen
my COW licking it from the board, relieved ME
of this charge but the storm of fun and ridicule
that this last feat of the old COW TO support the
family credit aroused throughout that whole
parish made the place intolerable to me and my
family; and better than this, cured me ofa hab.
it that nothing else seemed able to overcome.
moved to another neighborhood, exchanged
my COW foran honest one, signed the temperance
pledge, easily fed my COW in winter, hired her
pasture in the summer find n grateful market
anywhere for my butter and am now happy
man. Being man n little inclined to study and
reading, and the destiny of my life having
turned upon pasturing the road, have natural
ly inclined TO study up this point little and /
find the subject not SO difficult one might APP
from agricultural uses, for travelling purposes,
and can be used by the public for no other. Ii
any grass grows along the side of the travelled
track that belongs to the land owner of the adj
jaceut farm, he can gather it or pasture it,
but he must not let his cattle go over to the
other side of the road. Farms aud even village
lots are measured to the centre of the road SO,
as embracing the VIII ole roads if they happen to
lie on both Sides tor he road is only tor the
purposes of travel, and the land owner may USE
this road embraced in his own farm for any pur.
poses that will not in any way interfere with
improving the road as a thoroughiare or travel
upon the road. If the poor man owns a lot he
can pasture the road along the side Of his lot,
but when the road goes beyond he is trespass-
ing, and it is the same with the stock OF his
neighbur If l am wrong / would like to
know what is good common law.
A Poor MAN.
KEEPING HAMs.-I noticed an inquiry in
late issue ofyour paper for the best meth