Ids 



GENESEE FARMER. 



AvQ. 1845 



From tlio CiiUivator. 



DURABLE FENCE— BARNS. 



Mr. L. Tucker — Every farmer should have his 

 lands well fenced. All will admit Ihis, and yet how 

 few have fences that can be trusted. In this cli- 

 mate, where frosts prevail, fences will need repairs 

 every spring if built in the ordinary way; and it is 

 one of the crreatest vexations that farmers have to 

 encounter, the inefficiency of their frost-shaken fen- 

 ces. The experience I possess in relation to the 

 erection of permanent farm fences, has been consid- 

 erable. A stone wall, which, for some farms, is 

 the cheapest and most durable fence, should be con- 

 structed by first digging a trench eighteen inch deep 

 by two feet in width. This should be paved with 

 oak or yellow pine boards; and upon this commence 

 laving the foundation, not with small stones that 

 win work out, but with large flat stones that will 

 lay well. It is likewise necessary to lay the stones 

 lengthwise across the wall, which will bind and 

 strengthen it. A wall put up in this manner will 

 etand the heaving influences of frost much longer, 

 and maintain its even and straight appearance, in 

 which consists the beauty and efficiency of a wall, 

 to amply repay the extra expense. Every wall 

 should be made live feet high, which is a reasonable 

 security for an enclosure against the depredations of 

 most animals. It is my opinion that the cheapest 

 fence for farms where stones cannot be had, and 

 lumber is scarce and high, would be a fence con- 

 structed of cast-iron pickets, the pattern for the 

 construction of which should not exceed one-eighth 

 of an inch for the most part, increasing to one-quar- 

 ter where the holes are placed for securing them to 

 the iron bars. The bars should be twelve feet in 

 length, cast very light, with holes in them at prop- 

 er distances for riveting. The riveting process is 

 eimple, and soon done, any blacksmith being able 

 to rivet from ten to twelve pannels a day. To make 

 the pickets as light as possible it is necessary to 

 groove the pattern through in the middle three- 

 fourths of an inch, leaving three inches at the top 

 and bottom solid, excepting the holes where they 

 are secured to the bars , Three feet is length e- 

 nough for a picket. The expense of construction 

 would be lessened by the use of wooden posts in- 

 stead of iron; the latter, however, would be prefer- 

 able. A farm provided with a fence of this materi- 

 al, if kept thoroughly painted, would be fenced, not 

 for a day, but for all time. 



I have found the most durable way to set posts, 

 and prevent them from being thrown out by frost, is 

 to dig the holes large enough to admit of their be- 

 ing filled up with small stones and lime mortar; the 

 lime prevents decay, and the stones prevent in a 

 great nie-isure the action of frost. It is of the ut- 

 most import&nce lor farmers who wish contentment 

 of mind, good neighbors, the enjoyment of their 

 own property, and to be free from vexatious litiga- 

 tion, to put up good and sufficient fences both in- 

 side and out. 



A FEW Hints on Barns intknpkd for Hat. — 



The site for these buildings is of the first importance. 

 It should be in the vicinity of the hay field, for in 

 the hot and sultry season it is a saving of time and 

 labor to have them thus located. It should be, if 

 possible, dug into the side of a hill, which will en- 

 able you to draw the load near the roof, which ele- 

 vation will enable you likewise to i)itch the hay 

 down. All will admit it is easier. If you havo no 



side hill on which to build, the posts of the bam 

 should be at least fourteen feet high, which will se- 

 cure ample bay-room, which is very much needed in 

 all hay barns. The opening for putting in the hay 

 should be at the east, as it will be shaded in the af- 

 ternoon, the time in which most hay is put in. To 

 construct barns for this purpose in the most econom- 

 cal way, I would recommend placing the posts up- 

 on the sills at the distance of twelve feet asunder, 

 gird paralel with the sills half way up the posts, 

 then board up by placing the boards lengthwise from 

 plate to sill , For a roof match the boards close and 

 lay two thicknesses, taking care to break joints.—' 

 Every barn should be provided with a conductor or 

 lightening rod. An easy method is to put them up 

 in the form of a half-circle, stretching along the 

 roof, supported by non-conductors. The fluid com- 

 ing in contact with either end of the conductor will 

 travel to the opposite end, where it will explode in- 

 to the air. Yours respectfully, H. COOKE. 

 TivoLi, Dutchess Co., N. Y., 1845. 



DUTIES OF WOMEN TO THEIR COUNTRY. 



The shelter and protection of a free government 

 also demand awakened and grateful energies. Since 

 its welfare is involved in the virtue and intelligence 

 of its subjects, the character and habits of every 

 member of its great family, are of importance. I 

 imagine that I hear from the lips of some of the 

 young and sprightly of my sex, the inquiry, " Why 

 need we concern ourselves in the aflTairs of politi- 

 cians? What share have we in the destinies of our 

 country?" The same share that the rill has in the 

 rivulet, and rivulet has in the sea. Should every 

 little streamlet tarry at the fountain head, where 

 would be the river that dispenses the fertility — the 

 ocean, bearing commerce and wealth upon its never- 

 ending tide. Woman possesses an agency which 

 the ancient republic never discovered. The young 

 fountains of the mind are given in charge to her,— > 

 She can tinge them with sweetness or bitterness, 

 ere they have chosen thr; channels where to flow, or 

 learned to murmur their story to the time-worn peb- 

 ble. Greece,that disciple and worshipper of wisdom, 

 neglected to appreciate the value of the feebler sex, 

 or to believe that they who had the moulding of the 

 whole mass of mind in its first formation, might 

 help to infuse a principle of permanence into nation- 

 al existence. Rome, in her wolf-nursed greatness, 

 in her fierce democracy, in the corruption of her 

 imperial purple, despised the moral strength that 

 lay hidden under physical weakness. But our coun- 

 try has conceded every thing, the blessings of edu- 

 cation, the equality of companionship, the luxury 

 of benevolence, the confidence of a culturer's office, 

 to those young buds of being, in whom is her wealth 

 and her hope. What does she require of our sex 

 in return for these courtesies? Has she not a right 

 to expect that we give our hands to every cause of 

 peace and truth — that we nurse the plants of tem- 

 perance and purity — that wc frown on every inroad 

 of disorder and vice — that we labor in all places 

 where our lot may be cast, as gentle teachers of 

 wisdom and charity, and that we hold ourselves, in 

 domestic privacy, the guardians of those principles 

 which the sage defends in the halls of legislation, 

 and the priests of .Tehovah upon the walls of Zion. 



The Hon. Zadock Pratt, has contributed $250 

 to the Greene County Agricultural Society, to be 

 epended for the purchase of agricultural premiums. 



