74 



Artificial Dlvisiona of the Farm, 



Vol. IV. 



rail-fence, which is a simple process, and yet, 

 perhaps, not more than one in twenty has any 

 established system or fixed rules, by which 

 llieir operations are to be controlled in this 

 essential and important department of farm- 

 labor. A writer in the Genesee Farmer, says 

 that no sight is to him more pleasing-, tiirn 

 a well made rail-fence. His system of con- 

 struction is briefly as follows : 



" To ascertain when a sufficient number of 

 rails have been drawn for a given di.-tance 

 of fence. 1. — If the fence is to be seven 

 rails high, and twelve feet long, place them 

 in piles of ten each, in a continuous line, 

 touching each other. 2. — Place, in range, 

 stakes or poles at intervals to designate the 

 line — prepare a pole seven or eioht feet Ion f, 

 well sharpened at one end ; (the end ought by 

 all means to be pointed with iron.) At about 

 eighteen inches from the pointed end, fasten 

 a rod at right angles with the pole, and ex- 

 tending thence from three feet, two, four, or 

 six inches, according as the fence is e.xposed 

 to winds. Put down this pole in a range with 

 the poles designating the line, and the end of 

 the rod will show the place for the corner. — 

 Place then, for a foundation, a good s'zed flat 

 stone, and you are ready to commence opera- 

 tions. 3. — The bottom rail should be straight 

 — place the largest end forward on the stone, 

 and the other end crossing the preceding rail 

 at the end of the rod of the ranging pole, so 

 that the corners on each side be in exact line. 

 4. — Let the five following rails be placed the 

 smallest end forward, and notched, if neces- 

 sary, to make them lie steadily. 5. — Let the 

 top rail be heavy and well notched, the largest 

 end placed forward, which completes the 

 work, leaving your fence level, and of equal 

 height throughout." 



Various substitutes have been proposed for 

 the common post and rail fence, the most 

 prominent of which will be hereafter noticed. 

 Notwithstanding the great scarcity of timber 

 in the Atlantic states, which is a matter of 

 great solicitude, in view of obtaining in future 

 a supply of timber suitable for fencing alcaie 

 — the system of post and rail fences — with 

 proper management on the part of farmers 

 miy be easily and advantageously perpetu- 

 ated. 



James Worth, E.sq., of Sharon, netiriVe w- 

 ton, Bucks county, Pennsylvania — a gentle- 

 man who has devoted much of his time, tal- 

 ents and fortune, in promoting the general 

 interests of agriculture — after a minute and 

 careful examination of the claims of all the 

 vnrieties of fences used and reconnnendcd 

 throughout the country, came to the conclu- 

 pion that the post and rail, and the stone 

 fence, (wherever the materials for its cou- 

 i<truction abound) was best adapted to the 

 Country and the interests of the farmer. — 



Having determined in favor of the post with 

 five rails, for general purposes, he says : — 



" I turn my attention to that particular kind, 

 and will proceed to provide for its future sup- 

 ply. Plant an acre of ground with chestnut 

 and locust seeds, five-sixths of it with chest- 

 nut for rails, and one-sixth with locust tor 

 posts. Four trees will grow on a perch, 

 making six hundred and forty on the acre. 

 I suppose that forty of them will fail, leaving 

 six hundred trees, each of which will produce 

 in thirty years, and every twenty to twenty- 

 five years afterwards, twenty rails or posts, 

 which will yield at each cutting twelve thou- 

 sand posts and rails, or two thousand pannels. 

 Then say the acre of land is worth eighty dol- 

 lars, it will reduce the materials to four cents 

 per pannel, which with making and putting up 

 will not exceed twenty-five cents. In point 

 of durability I am persuaded that it will be 

 exceeded by none, except the stone, and it 

 will have an advantage over that, by being 

 moveable when necessary." 



Mr. Worth's reasons for preferring the 

 locust po.st and chestnut rails are thus stated. 

 It occupies less ground than any other — the 

 borders of the fields are easily kept clean — 

 the great durability of the materials — the 

 ease with which they may be obtained by 

 every farmer, as the trees flourish in a tolera- 

 bly good soil in every part of our country. — 

 One acre thus appropriated is sufiicicnt for a 

 farm of five hundred acres — and consequent- 

 ly, a quarter of an acre will be abundant 

 for a farm of one hundred acres. To what 

 better or more profitable purpose can so small 

 a portion of the best land on the farm be ap- 

 propriated \ The only objection is, that there 

 is no immediate availability — that from twen- 

 ty-five to thirty years must elapse before the 

 trees can be made into rails. This objection 

 is as unsatisfactory as it is unsound. There 

 are thousands who, if they wore vow to ap- 

 propriate sufilcirnt ground, according to the 

 size of their farms, and plant it as proposed, 

 may with the blessing of Providence, live to 

 enjoy its advantages for years. What ! not 

 plant an orchard, or a grove of locust, or a 

 cluster of maple, because we may not live to 

 enjoy the benefits thereof! Such sentiments 

 should never find an abiding place in the bo- 

 som of an American farmer; for every intel- 

 ligent man knows full well, that every mea- 

 sure of this kind tends not merely to adorn 

 and beautify his plantation, but also greatly 

 to increase its prospective value. Every 

 farmer should see without delay to having 

 his grounds suitably stocked with trees. 



It is estimated that a fence of locust posts 

 and chestnut rails, with very little repair, will 

 last lor at least sixty years, so that the neces- 

 sities of thetiirm would require only the third 

 cutting of the timber — the two intermediate 



