Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-08-20

GEORGE NJ. WHITAKER, in his lecture
on " Neglected Trides," makes the fol-
lowing statement Of facts concerning
fences: In New Hampshire the original
cost Of the fences Is equal ts twice the
value Of ali the stock Ia the State, in
cluding horses, and the annual tax upon
the farms for repairs Of fences would
nearly wipe out all the State tax in one
year.
The Connecticut farmers pay one mil
lion dollars annually for the maintenance
Of fences, and farms are offered in mar
ket for less money than would be re-
quired in building the fences which sur
round and divide them. With such facts
in view, people in many places are be
ginning TO zee that fences are too costly,
as well as frequently unnecessary, while
their removal often improves the ap-
pearance Of the town. One Of the pleas
ATTEST features of the landscape at the
Massachusetts Agricultural College, ia
the entire absence Of roadside fences
against cultivated fields and moving
lands, and 80 well does the idea Of dis
pensing with fences take hold Of the
farmers in the immediate vicinity Of the
College, that many Of them are follow
ing the example set by the early found
ers Of that institution, and are LAYING
their own grounds open 10 the highway,
thus adding much TO the beauty Of the
landscape, besides saving a great bill
Of expense 10 themselves. One Of the
first things which the rich feel is neces-
sary for their country homes is, that the
view should extend over the landscape
without the ugly interruption Of a fence.
This natural feeling is shared also by
those who are not rich, but, like many
other things which exist simply from
the prejudiCes of habit, it has hereto
fore been considered impossible TO real
ize. To-day, however, by the slow
process Of generations, civilized men
have become so imbued with a love of
order and law, that the fence should dis
appear from the landscape as the draw
bridge and moat have disappeared from
the modern mansion.
Abiding to the little patches of green
frequently seen at the centers of our
country towns and designated as the
common" he says: "But what is
more incongruous than to see a small
green surrounded by a glaring white
belt of timber solid enough for fortif-
cation, the most snowy feature in the
prospect when it should have been the
leastP 1t shows as poor taste as it would
be to attach an elephant to a trotting
sulky. l do not believe the Almighty
ever created the delicate tints of the
grass to play second fiddle to a great
coarse fence. Green roadsides, neat
flower gardens, well kept shrubbery
and shade trees are infinitely pre-
ferable, in the way of village decoration
to pine pickets. But if fences must be
maintained along the village street, let
them be built to correspond with the
surroundings. A row of rough boards
in front of nice cottage, line of posts
in all degrees of rectitude, a gate that
refuses to fit the place intended for it, a
picket or two counted out, the paint
worn off, are among the little things
that give the stranger a feeling that
there is a something that is repulsive
about the village he is visiting" While
we hold on to our fence system let us
keep those which we have in good re-
pair, and tidy.-NeU England Farmer.