Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1879-03-31
agricultural department.
FENCES.

is two fold. There Is not only great
saving of labor and fence material, but
a great gain of land. The public has
no title to the land on which highway
is laid out except for a track and the
material requisite for the construction
of the road. Every abutter has a right
to cultivate the land en- The side of the
highway down to the wagOn-track, and
when a public road is discontinued the
title revcrts to the abutters. BY keep
ing up road fences, therefore, there is a
great waste of cultivatable soil, and
great inconvenience in cultivating that
which is fenced, for no one who has not
tried it knows how much more conven-
lent it is to pillow up to road-bed than
up to fence, and to drive into lot
anywhere we please from a road, rather
than to enter at particular point
through gate. Few, also, who have
not calculated it, realize how much land
is wasted by keeping up road fences.
In town six miles square it is safe to
estimate "a as the minimum number of
linear miles of road, and one rod on
each mile of this road as the minimum
amount of land which lies waste. This
estimate gives four acres of waste land
for each mile of road, and SO acres, or
quite stable farm, for the whole town,
an amount not to be despised. If to
this waste be added the expense of max
ing and maintaining road fences, any
one can see that the latter are worse
than dead capital, for they not only pay
no dividends, but are constantly calling
for new assessments. The highways are
also benefited by the removal of the
fences, as the wind has a fair sweep
over them, drying up the mud in sum-
mer and allowing no big snow-drifts in
winter. In many places it pays to re-
move the road fences in winter to avoid
the accumulation of snow which drifts
over them and lies on the leeward side,
obstructing travel and requiring no lit
tie outlay for its removal. 1t would be
more economical to remove the fences
permanently.
Road fences are peculiar institution
of this country. In Europe one can
travel hundreds of miles and not en-
counter road fence. When our fathers
came to America they seemed determined
to have everything free. The cattle,
sheep, pigs, and geese enjoyed the free
dom of the village common. and to pre-
vent the intrusion of these enemies every
man was obliged to build fence WAR
der-of) against his house and lots. 1t
was miserable economy, as it is far
cheaper to fence stock in that to fence it
out. A few cows running in the high
way require miles of fence to keep them
from doing mischief. The little forage
they pick up there does not compensate
for the expense of fencing, and is more
than offset by their dirty droppings, and
and by their being in the way of pedes-
TRANS and horsemen. 1t is no trifing
matter to run over cow that has made
her bed in the middle of the road of a
dark night, and to run over hog in
such circumstances will surely cause
grunting and grumbling, if nothing more
serious. We, therefore, count it good
day for "the glorious old State of Massa.
chusetts" when her laws ruled cattle
out of the streets and left men free to
built road fences, or not. as they pleased
The fact that these fences are still kept
up quite generally shows the power Of
custom, but we are glad to testify that
it is gradually becoming obsolete, and
we never knew man who had removed
them who was willing to 60 back to the
old custom.
A village without front-yard fences
is improved 100 per cent. The streets
are widened to the extent of the space
occupied by these yards, and the village
becomes park. Cyrus W. Field, il
giving $4,000 for the improvement Of
the already beautiful village of Williams
town, Mass, made his gift conditional
on the removal of all fences in front Of
the houses. Most of the citizens haC
the good sense to see the wisdom of the
condition, and complied with it cheer
fully, but few old fogies were obstinate
and held on to the barricade around
their houses at the hazard of losing tn.
muni6cent gift. These woke up ont
morning to find their fences gone; they
had been stacked in the street and sacri
feed to Moloch during the night. ant
now the northwest corner town of Mas
sachusetts can boast of possessing tn
model village of the State.
To BIT CoLT.-The true way to bi
colt is not to bit him at all; that is
let him bit himself. When my colts ar
one year old, begin to teach them t.
hold bit in their mouth. The bit i
of pine, some half-inch in diameter, ant
} five inches in lenpth. This niece of sof