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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] living fence

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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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  • From: EJ <emj@uvic.ca>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] living fence
  • Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2011 09:25:44 -0800


Right, Ken, interesting historical development--the fact that European settlers in this country made so little use of living fences, though their use was fundamental in many of the countries they came from.

Different mind set in North America - history left behind, frontier/pioneer sentiments. Many settlers came from situations where they either owned very little land or no land.

Lack of social stability in NA. How many of the living fences were on land passed down many, many generations? Many settlers moved on soon

Lack of time/money - why invest in fencing that takes a long time to grow when barbed wire is instant and much cheaper?

A need to define ownership in a new place w/o neighbors and farm history. Compare with extensive farming practices in Europe where everyone knew who's land it was or pastures were held communally

Coincidental availability of barbed wire - it was invented at the same time that the prairies were settled by Europeans

Amount of land that needed fencing
Climate - harsher, drier climates means more land needs fencing in order to keep the same amount of livestock
Different livestock - extensively raised cattle need more space than intensive small scale farming with a dairy cow and a pig






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