188 



GENESEE FARxMER. 



Ncv. 1«45 



For the <jenesci». Faripf.r. 



STATE FAIRS AND TAVERN KEEPERS. 



•\luch complaint, is made, privately, of the exorbi- 

 tance of the Utica tavern keepers, "from grtat A. 

 down to k," in charfjing for dinners and crowded 

 beds, I had one hah' of a bed, ceitainly not wide 

 enough to hold a fat man ;ilone, and in a small rooih' 

 and was charged very highly. Were there net at 

 least 5000 regular boarders and lodgers, during the 

 time of the fair ? 



This number, at two dollars a df-v, the loasi a- 

 mount charged I believe, will be $20,000. If 100,- 

 000 persons, then $40,000. Some money, to pay 

 for trouble. In proportion to the exhorbitance of 

 the tavern keepers, was the hospitality of the priv?le 

 citizens, in all cases when visitors to the fair were 

 qua'-Jered on them. 



What is the remedy ? Let the tavern keepers 

 in future, state beforehand, their prices, and a list of 

 their names be published, then th!>&e will be shuKn- 

 rd, who do not thus enter their names. Let tl'C 

 State Society see to this next winter, in fixing a 

 place for the next fair. 



A most unjust accusation was made by the editor 

 of the Utica Liberty Press, on the Society itself for 

 this overcharging, when it is well known that the 

 members are as liable to this extortion as any one : 

 and the otficers of the Society, whom that paper par- 

 ticularly blames, are most liable, for besides giving 

 their time gratuitously, they usually have to pay 

 their board for several days before and after the fair. 

 in necessary preparations. 



That editor also complains bitterly that he was 

 not allowed a " free ticket" to enter the grounds, 

 and sj staid away : he should recollect that those 

 officers, whom he thus censures, all pay their admis- 

 sion yearly, fee,besides all the unjaid labor they ex- 

 pend : but' most of them have contributed largely by 

 liberal donations. 



Three thousand dollars are yearly paid in premi- 

 ums ; and one to two thousand, in preparing for the 

 fair, besides many other heavy expenses ; — who then 

 can have the face' to refuse his shilling, to enter the 

 grounds. < ven though he may have advertised the 

 ix\r in his paper ? ' FAIR PLAY. 



For the Genesee F irnier. 



Dn. Lef. — We believe you had a peep, one day, 

 at the fruit which was exhibited during the season, 

 at the office of .T. H. W^atts, in Rochester. 



The varieties, including Peaches, Apples, Pears, 

 and Grapes, that have been presented from time to 

 time, has surprised many. It was not known that so 

 murh good, choice, and rare fruit was already grow- 

 insr, in this region ; and another year, when the 

 Horticultural Society beccmes formed, the members 

 may depend upon finding work for at least one per- 

 son to receive and take care, for exhibition, of what 

 fruit will be brought. 



Those who enlisted in the cause this year, have 

 been well repaid in seeing the interest manifested, by 

 o-it of town as well as city growers of fruit; and, 

 on leaving the subject for another year, a hope ex- 

 ists that what has been gained for 1845 may bo more 

 than equalled in 1946. W. 



Mutual Lifk Insuranck. — Those >yit wish to 

 make an insurance on their own lives, (,\ the lives 

 of their friends, will find a favorable opportunity 

 with Mr. J. H. W^atts, of Rochester, wUose adver- 

 tisement will be found in this number. 



• "or till- (iinoi-o,. Fani'T 



CHEAP, DURABLE &i CONVENIENT FENCE. 



One of the most important things in the agricul- 

 tural world is fer.cc. Our oil as if were depends on 

 it. Stone fence is best, but that wecannotall have. 

 Monroe County tuiireis for durable fencing stulj" as 

 much perhnps as any section in the State. Conse- 

 cpiently, I have adopt/^d and would recommend, the 

 following method, brl.tving it to be the cheapest, 

 most durable, convenient, and secjre Wooden ferce 

 that can be made. Any kind oftimbe: even Bass- 

 wood lasts wrll when sawed into small rails. Saw 

 the m'st la.-tirg, straight grained timber you have in- 

 to pieces four feet long, two inches thick, citrht inch- 

 es wide at one end and four at the othet, for posts. 

 Saw pieces six inches wide two inches thick and 

 three feet long for bed pieces. Saw the rails one 

 and three foul th inches square, and twelve feet long. 

 Saw a board five inches wide and twelve feet long, 

 : iso a piece six inches wide and four feet long. — 

 Make a shoulder across the wide end of the post, 

 sawing in one half inch and six inches from the end. 

 put the post on the centre of ihe bed piece (setting 

 the bed piece up edgwisc.) and nail it on with four 

 nails. Bore six two inch holes in each post, at dis- 

 cretionary distances, boreing the lower one through 

 both pieces and enlarging the spaces as you go up 

 between the rails, and put the cap. or five inch piece 

 of board, on the top of the posts with nails, which 

 board forms the top or seventh rail and preserves the 

 iieads of the post from rotting: the six inch pi'^ce of 

 board is bored to rorrespcind with the posts and put 

 on to the centre of the rails to keep them from spring- 

 ing, (put on two of these if you please.) The pof^ts 

 should be slipped on to the end of the rails aboiit 3 

 inches, and secured by a little wedge or key, drove 

 over each, and one and a half inch pin put through 

 about half way up the fence to attach the whole to- 

 gether; put the pin in loose so that the fence may be 

 easily taken apart to move. The ends of the bed 

 pieces should be placed on flat stones, two or three 

 inches thick, to keep the whole steady and from rot- 

 ting. Among the conveniences and advantages ofthis 

 kind of fence are the following: First, you can move it 

 at any time, s.j as to plow where it stands, destroying 

 all hedges and saving the use of the ground each year, 

 which is always a very wide cradle swath: a sort of 

 stone boat made light and strong on which you can 

 place four or five lengths, is the best way to move 

 it. A man will move and adjust one hundred rods of 

 it in a day. Secondly, it is much more durable than 

 other fence, because no part of it touches the ground. 

 Thirdly, you never need bari^, for each length is bars 

 of itseif. Fourthly, farmers can make it in the win- 

 ter, when little else can be done. Fiftit, you are 

 free from anxiety in a windy night or day, for it catch- 

 es little or no wind, and consequently never blows 

 down, and it is not liable to be pushed down by cattle. 

 And last, though not least, comes what is nearest 

 every mans' heart, the cost. There is in each length 

 of twelve feet, about forty feet of lumber and fourteen 

 10' nails; the labor is about the same as making or- 

 dinary bonrd fence. So it is seen at a glance that 

 Ht least one third of the expense of an ordinary board 

 fence is saved. I have ascertained, by actual weigh- 

 ing, that from three to three antl a half miles of this 

 fence mav be carried on one of the largest class of 

 '•anal Boats. This would constitute a very impor- 

 tant article of transportation on our Canal^. 



JOEL HOUGHTON. 



Adams Basin, 1845. 



