WHAT IS A LEGAL FENCE?
What shall be necessary to constitute a legal and sufficient fence is specifically defined by the statutes of the several States, but there is no uniform rule among all. In Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and many other States, it is provided that all fences four feet high, and in good repair, consisting of rails, timber, boards, or stone wall, and all brooks, rivers, ponds, creeks, ditches, hedges, and other things deemed by the fence viewers to be equivalent thereto, shall be accounted legal and sufficient fences. In Vermont, Connecticut, Michigan, and some other States, a legal fence must be four and a half feet high. In Missouri post fences must be four and one half feet high, hedges four feet high, turf fences four feet high, with ditches on each side three feet deep in the middle and three feet wide; worm fences must be five and one-half feet high to the top of the rider, or if not ridered, five feet to the top of the top rail, and must be rocked with strong rails, poles or stakes; stone or brick fences must be four and one-half feet high. In New York the electors of each town may, by vote, decide for themselves how fences shall be made, and what shall be deemed sufficient. No part of the fence law is so definitely regulated by the statutes of the respective States as the requirements of a legal fence. In all cases where practical questions arise involving this point, it is best to consult the statutes, which will be found in the office of the township clerk.