to crops, the fence-owner had to stand the loss, while if the fences
were good and strong, proving the cattle unruly and destructive, the
owner of the cattle had to pay. All the colonies were watchful over the
safe-keeping of fences. In 1659 the Dutch rulers of New Amsterdam (now
New York) ordered that for "stripping fences of rails and posts" the
offender should be whipped and branded, and for a second offence he
could be punished by death. This seems cruelly severe, but that year
there was a great scarcity of grain and other food, and if the fences
were pulled down, cattle could get into fields and eat up the growing
crops, and famine and death might result.

Sometimes a common field was fenced in and planted with Indian corn. In
this case the fence served to keep the cattle out, not in. This was
always the case in Virginia.

Hay-wards were, as the name indicates, men to keep watchful care over
the growing hay. For instance, in Hadley, Massachusetts, in 1661,
Goodman Montague was chosen hay-ward by the town. He was to have
twelvepence for each cow or hog, two shillings for each horse, and
twenty pence for each twenty sheep that he found loose in any field or
meadow, and successfully turned out. The owner of the animal was to pay
the fine. At a later date these hay-wards were called field-drivers.
They are still appointed in many towns and cities, among them Boston.

Hog-reeves were men appointed by the citizens to look after their hogs
that roamed the roads and streets, to see that all those swine had
rings in their noses, were properly marked, and did not do damage to
crops. Many towns had hog-reeves till this century; for until seventy
years ago hogs ran freely everywhere, even in the streets of our great
cities. It was a favorite jest to appoint a newly married man hog-reeve.
When Ralph Waldo Emerson was married and became a householder in
Concord, the young philosopher was appointed to that office. Sometimes a
single swineherd was hired to take care of the roving swine. The two
Salem swineherds or swine-keepers in 1640 were to have sixpence for each
hog they drove daily to pasture from April to November. These and many
other public offices were simply a form of legalized cooeperation; a
joining together of neighbors for public good.

The neighborly assistance given to new settlers began with the clearing
of the ground for occupancy. The girdling of trees was easy and speedy,
but it was discountenanced as danger