Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1885-09-25
The Old Rail Fence.

The placing of barbed wire fence
around farms, usurping the place of the
old rail fence, destroys half Of the pleas
ure of farming. There ia something
about the old rail fence that is real COM
Portable, aud the barbcd wire fence Is
forbidding, cold. repulsive. Until YOU
come 10 think Off there does not seem
as though there was great deal of SOL
id comfort in rail fence, but there Is.
Did you ever see two farmers leaning
against rail fence, whiting and talk
ing politics or a horse trade for hours to-
gether? They are more comfortable,
and rest more than they would If they
were occupying the soltest sofa or the
best stuffed armchair in the world.
There are so many shapes n man can
get into, to rest, about rail fence. First,
the farmer will fold his arms and rest
them on the top rail, aud lean his breast
on the fence and talk for half an hour,
until his legs are tired, then he will
step one foot on the second rail from
the bottom, and stand and whittle for
haitian hour, until the top rail is rs poll
ishcd as a piece of mahogany. Then he
will change feet and lean one elbow on
the second rail from the top, and shar-
pen his knife OH his boot, and talk for
half an hour about how he is going TO
pay the mortgage OH his farm next year.
After that position becomes irksome he
will turn his back to the fence, stand on
his heels, and place his two elbows on
the top rail, and lean against the fence,
and for half an hour he will tell about
how the old mare he is trying TO trade
of cleaned out all the teams on the road
coming back from the circus ut town,
and how, If he wasn't fixed just as lie
is, and wanted the twenty dollars boot
money TO send John of to the select
school, there is no mau on earth that
coald buy that mare. Then he Will get
tired and stand around sideways, put
his left arm up on the fence and begin
to whitte again, and swear how the pat
ent right men are skinning us farmers
out of our eye-teeth. Without going into
detail as to ninety-Dinc other combina-
tions by which Il farmer can rest on, or
about rail fence, it may not be out OF
place to speak Of sitting on top OF
fence. The farmers, after trying sew
eral positions, will instinctively climb
up the fence and rest on the top rail
their feet resting on the third rail from
the top, which is always laid with pro-
lection enough to make gooG footing, and
an hour will pass as .he old fellows talk
of the times when they were first mar
rieG and settled, and OF the hardships
they have endured and how the chill
dren have grown up and gone away,
and the conversation will drift into a
sleepy channel, and the sun will begin
to sink into the West, and the horny
handed son of toll will suddenly remeIn-
Der that the chores are TO be done, and
with goodnight Lige," and "Drop
around again tomorrow, Ike" They
will separate, and one will take milk
pail and one legged stool and go to-
wards the barn yard where the cows
have come home, while the other will
20 across the road to his barn and throw
down some hay for the horses, and they
will both go to bed at eight o'clock as
tired as though they had been blowing.
But they had splendid, easy visit on
tho old rail fence.