The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1879-08-20
AS TO FARM FENCES.

The subject Of farm fences is an i'm
portant one 20 farmers. 1t was necessary
at common law that every man should
keep a personal watch over his animals,
or surround his land with a fence. This
fence was primarily, therefore, not to keep
other peoples cattle out, but to keep his
own in; and so each owner, if he kept cat
tie, was bound to erect the entire fence
around his close. whether his neighbor
kept any cattle or not, and if the latter
also owned any he must do the same, or
keep his beasts at home in some other
way and such is the law in Indiana be-
tween adjoining landowners. But as two
parallel fences would be attended with
useless expense, and as one and the same
fence would answer for two adjoining
proprietors, in was long since provided by
statute in this state how partition fences
might be maitained. The legal obliga-
tons of the owners of adjoining lands to
make and maintain partition fences, when
no prescription exists, and no agreement
has been made, rests entirely on the posi-
tive provisions of statute and at common
law trespass will lie against the owner of
cattle entering on the grounds of another,
though there be no fence to obstruct
them, unless he can protect himself by
statute, or prescription, or agreement,
Kent's Comm, Vol. Ill, page 43S. After
the admission of Indiana as State
into the Union the Legislature
passed an act regulating enclosures, see
chap SO, page 347, Laws of Indiana, act
approved January 81, 1918. By this act
all fields kept for enclosures were to be
well enclosed with fence composed of
sufficient posts and rails, posts and palings,
palisades or rails alone laid up in the
manner which is commonly called worm
fence: then after detailing the manner in
which each kind of fence should be built
it enacts that the fence should be at least
five feet high, or il worm fence it should
be at least five feet six inches in height;
the act also specified that the apertures a
certain distance. from the ground 1.-TWO
feet should not be more than four inches
and not more than six inches above that
the act also described how a worm fence
should be built. Sec. 2. provided that if
any cattle, etc, shall break into any per-
sons enclosure, the fence conforming to
the statute and proved to be such as is re-
quired, the owner of such creature or
creatures shall be liable to make good oil
damages to the owner of the enclosure,
for the first offence, single damages; ever
afterwards double the damages sustained.
Division fences by sec 8 Of said act were
also provided for, the charge to be borne
equally and maintained by both parties.
3 Three fence viewers were also provided
: for by the same section, to be appointed
by the County Commissioners, the fence
viewers were sole judges of the sufficiency
of the fences and of the amount an ad-
joining land owner ought to pay as his
share of the expense of partition fence;
further provision was also made for a neg
lect to pay by suit before justice of the
peace. Parties were at liberty to con-
struct dykes, hedges or bitches and these
also to be of prescribed height in case
of hedges and depth and width in case
of dykes or bitches. The act of 1878 was
superseded by the act of 1924 upon the
same subject, the latter act differing but
slightly from its predecessor. The subject
received the attention of the legislature
n0nip in 1881. sea IN act coucarninR an.