Wednesday, May 18, 2016

These are not fences!

These are not photos of fences; they're a glimpse into a historic landscape and a way of life - the small rural Ontario farm in the late 19th and early 20th century, when horsepower was provided by horses, and fields were the size that a man and a horse could plow in a day.

I noticed this when I stopped to take a picture of some barns, on that rainy cold day last week.  Looking at it afterwards, I realized how appealing the picture was to me - four fencerows separating four fields on at least two different farms.

So I started looking for similar pictures.  But it's remarkable how hard it is now to find a view like this.  So many farms have had the fencerows bulldozed out to create huge fields for cash cropping.

And if the old farm has bush or wetland except at the very back of the farm, the view is blocked.  This is one of the most appealing old farms around here for me.

I didn't find very many more, but I'm going to keep looking.

And this jumps to the opposite end of the fence spectrum, a brand new fence just being built.  It's so new the posts haven't been trimmed off to a standard height, and there's no wire at all yet.  This has been a crop field, but I think it's going to become a pasture.

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14 comments:

  1. The shades of green are beautiful!

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  2. Hard work in those days, no hydraulic post hole borer or rammer, just sweat and lots of stamina. Love the old ones.

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  3. Interesting to see all those fence rows. Things sure have changed in a century.

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  4. Somewhat reminiscent of parts of England, though around here we have lost most of our small fields. You've certainly found some appealing views.

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  5. Hello, lovely views of the fields and fences. I like the row of rocks for fencing. Happy Thursday, enjoy your day and weekend ahead!

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  6. Those are pretty scenes, and I know what you mean about fences disappearing from the landscape. Hope you are having a great day!
    Lea

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  7. Beautiful views. Those rows of rocks certainly bring back memories.

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  8. Gorgeous scenery! I love those rock fences and the green fields.

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  9. How beautiful! Thank you.
    http://momentsfrozentime.blogspot.nl/

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  10. I love that first picture, too, and smiled at the new fence in progress. :-)

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  11. how beautiful. the stone walls, especially so.

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  12. The countryside is just beautiful and it was neat to see the different fences in each shot. Also the new fence being built.

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  13. It's really pretty when you see those old small fields. For many years landowners received cost-sharing to remove the old fencerows and so, most are long gone and with them the wildlife, wildflowers and trees that lived there.

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