Continuing the Good LIfe, Chapters Eleven through Eighteen Summary and Analysis

In chapter eleven, "Stone Walls Versus Wire Fences," the Nearings describe several incidents in which they face shortages of particular foods and other products because of the animals that forage on their plants. An example is Rugosas and their own endeavors on this front are so successful that they help a neighbor, Eliot Coleman, establish his own Rugosas plantation. However, then the deer discover the Nearings' patch and they come to the reluctant conclusion that they must use fences to keep the animals away from specific areas. They use wire fencing in some places but discover an army of slugs working on a bed of greens are effectively eliminated by the use of a stone fence instead of the wire. Other arguments made for the stone wall...