248 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



is not to be undcrratod. Wisdom in this direction will certainly advance the 

 pecuniary welfare of the husbandman. The matter has received but little 

 attention from the farmer, and its evils have been endured Avithout a murmur 

 seemingly, because, as is characteristic with him, whatever has been acquiesced 

 in for 3-ears must be accepted Avhether or no. Due regard has not been paid 

 the subject by agricultural writers. I dare say you cannot find an allusion to 

 it in any of the Michigan reports. But surely a matter of so much importance, 

 so intimately conjoined with the immediate welfare of the farmer should not he 

 required to be bolstered up by the press before being embraced by the interest 

 most closely concerned therein. Calculating the cost of fencing is the only way 

 that we can arrive at improvements in its economy ; but notwithstanding the 

 statement of the cost is a very good argument, it has very little Aveight with 

 farmers. It is said to have about the same effect upon their minds and their 

 actions as the statement of the cost of using intoxicating liquors and tobacco 

 has upon the toper and smoker. The trouble lies in the fact that the farmer 

 is disposed to manifest tlie usual indifference which follows in the wake of any 

 idea or plan that embodies in the least the spirit of revolation. Can it bo that 

 we are opposed to progressive change, — change for the better? Let us not hold 

 ourselves liable to the charge of stupid conservatism. This indiscriminate aver- 

 sion to innovation arises from habit. We continue in the old wa}', with no bet- 

 ter argument for it than this : It is the way my father did, and he says his father 

 always did so ; and I guess if it was not right they woukl have found it out ; 

 this declaration ends all argument. It is a bold son that dares to do as his 

 father never did. Yet in this matter of fencing he should have courage to shake 

 off the shackles of precedent, and get out of the old hard path of our very 

 respectable old-fashioned grandfathers. 



I shall speak in the first place of the kinds of fences and their relative adap- 

 tation to the purposes of economy and durability, and finally of the expense of 

 fences and how they may be dispensed Avitli. Of the many kinds of fences in 

 use some merit attention, and others are not worth the time spent in learning- 

 their construction. Among some of the various styles, avb have the following : 

 Common board fence, rail fence, wire fence, picket fence, hurdle fence, stone 

 wall fence, and hedge fence. Fences are divided into two general classes : por- 

 table and permanent fence. The former is used for interior boundaries, and 

 the latter for highway and division line fences. The common board fence 

 belono-iuo- to the second class is the most desirable of all those mentioned, for 



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several reasons. It takes up less ground, is more economical, is not a harbor 

 for briers or vermin, makes the best appearance, and is not as liable to become 

 frequently necessary for repairs, or, as farmers say, ''out of kilter." If a board 

 fence is built for a permanent one, the boards should be battened over every 

 post and nailed with what are known as fence nails ; and the posts, unless of 

 the most durable kind, should be kyanized and always set in a position reverse 

 from that of their growth. The process of kyanizing consists in filling the pores 

 of the wood with a mineral substance, such as sulphate of copper, zinc, or iron, 

 combined with Avater, in the proportion of twenty parts of the latter to one of 

 the former. The poAver of this material as a preservative is conceded to be 

 unequaled. Posts Avhich have stood in the ground for ten years are found to be 

 perfectly free from decay. Posts should be set top end down. The theory of 

 this increased duration is, that moisture cannot ascend as readily when the order 

 of growth is reversed, thereby preventing decay. 



A Avriter in the I^ew England Farmer who tried numerous experiments in 



