CHAPTER XIII.FENCE LAW.
The common law of England, which to a large extent became the law of the original States, bound no one to fence his land at all. Every person is bound under that law to fence his own cattle in, but not bound to fence other cattle out. Every owner of domestic animals is liable for injury committed by them on the lands of others, even though the land was wholly unfenced. But this feature of the English common law was not suitedto the conditions which surrounded the early settlers in any part of this country. So long as any region is sparsely settled, the amount of unoccupied land is so much greater than the occupied, that it is cheaper to fence stock out, than to fence it in. Hence the English common law in regard to fencing has been superseded by statute in many of the States. In others it has always remained in force, or has been revived by later statutes. There is such great diversity on this point in the statutes of the several States, that, to quote from Henry A. Haigh’s excellent “Manual of Farm Law,” “every one having occasion to look up any point of law, should ascertain the statutory provisions concerning it from some official source. Do not depend upon this book or any other book for them, because they are liable to change, and do change from year to year; but go to your town clerk or justice of the peace, and examine the statutes themselves.”