1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



427 



Lincolnshire— The "Fens" rent for $7,50 ; the 

 "Wolds," $6,25. (p. 260.) 



Somerset— $7,50 to $15,00, and even $22,50 

 in the "Vale." (p. 276.) 



Gloucester — The "Cotswold," $4,00 ; the 

 "Vale," $7,00. (p. 276.) 



Chester— Grass lands, $7,50. (p. 276.) 



Lancashire — Average, $7,50; near Liverpool 

 and Manchester, arable land lets at $20,00. (p. 

 322.) 



In Scotland, the "Lothians," which surround 

 Edinburgh, average about $5,00, -while some ir- 

 rigated meadows rent as high as $150,00 to 

 $200,00 per annum, per acre! (p. 361.) 



I know nothing about the authority for these 

 statements. But many of your readers, proba- 

 bly, besides myself, would like to know what 

 rents our brother farmers do pay in old England. 



In this connection, I cannot refrain from copy- 

 ing from the articles alluded to, a single state- 

 ment as to the amount of capital required by 

 those who hire land in England. The writer 

 says: 



"The English farmer, before 1848, held, that 

 to conduct a farm, he must have a capital of $40 

 to the acre, and now he thinks $80 to the acre 

 not too much." (p. 178.) 



To hire a farm of one hundred acres, then, the 

 poor tenant must have a capital of eight thous- 

 and dollars ! Verily, one-half of the world don't 

 know how the other lives. s. F. 



Wincliester, July, 1858. 



AGRICULTUKAL EXHIBITIONS— 1858. 



STATE FAIRS. 



Alabama Montgomerj', Oct. 18 — 22. 



California Marysville, Aug. 23 — 28. 



Connecticut Hartford, Oct. 12 — 15. 



Illinois .Centralia, Sept. 14—17. 



Indiana Indianapolis, Oct. 4 — 9. 



Iowa Oecaloosa, Sept. 28 — Oct. 1. 



Kentucky Louisville, Sept. 28 — Oct. 2. 



Maine Augusta, Sept. 21—24. 



New Hampshire Dover, Oct. — 8. 



New Jer?e}' Trenton, Sept. 14 — 17. 



New Yorli Syracuse, Oct. 5 — 8. 



North Caroiina Raleigh, Nov. 2 — 6. 



North- Western Virginia Wheeling Island, Sept. 14 — 16. 



Ohio Sandusky, Sept. 14—17. 



Pennfylvania Pittsburg, Sept. 28 — Oct. 1. 



Rhode Island Providence, Sept. 14 — 18. 



South Carolina Columbia, Nov. 9 — 12. 



Vermont... Burlington, Sept. 14 — 17. 



Wisconsin Madison, Oct. 4 — 8. 



COUNTY SHOWS. 



Essex Danvers, Sept. 29 and 30. 



Middlesex Concord, Sept. 29. 



Middlesex, North Lowell, Sept. 15, 16 and 17. 



Middlesex, South Framingham, Sept. 21 and 22. 



Worcester Worcester, Oct. 6 and 7. 



Worcester, West Barre, Sept. 30. 



Worcester, North Fitcliburg, Sept. 24. 



Worcester, South Sturbridge, Sept. 29 



Hampsliire, Frank, and Hamp.... Northampton, Oct. 13 and 14, 



Hampshire Amherst. Oct.1'2 and 13. 



Hampden Springfield, Sept. 28, 29 and 30. 



Hampden, East Palmer, Oct. 5 and 6. 



Franklin Greenfield, Oct. 6 and 7. 



Berkshire Pittsfield, Oct. 6, 7 and 8. 



Housatonic Great Barrincton, Sept. 22, 23 ard24. 



Norfolk Uedham, Sept. 28 and 2^^. 



Bristol Taunton, Sept. 22 and 23. 



Plymouth Bridgewater, Sept. 29 and 30. 



Barnstable «. Barnstable, Oct. 6 and 7. 



Nantucket Nantucket, Oct. 13 and 14 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



American Pomological Society New York, Sept. 14, 



National Horse Show Springfield, Mass., Sept. 14 — 17, 



St. Louis Ag. Mech. Association St. Louis, Sept. — 11. 



Unite* States Agricultural Society. .Richmond, Va., Oct. 25—30, 



For the New England Farmer. 

 "WIRE FENCES. 



July 26, 1858. 

 Hon. H. F. French : — My Dear Friend — Can 

 you spare a few moments from authorship and 

 court — ship 1 was about to say, but I have no 

 authority for that, to give me some brief direc- 

 tions about making a wire fence ? 



I know what the books say, but I prefer your 

 experience. 



I wish to make a fence between my lawn and 

 pasture, running it along on the northerly side 

 of my pine grove. 



The size of the wire, the number of the lengths, 

 the distance and size of posts, the manner of 

 stretching the wire, whether the trees can be 

 used, and if so, how? These are the points of 

 inquiry that occur to me. 



Most truly, your Friend, w. C. C. 



Exeter, N. ff., July 29, 1858. 



My Dear Sir ; — Of course when you are so 

 wise as to prefer my experience to what the books 

 say about wire fences, I can find time to write 

 you, though I have nothing against books, my- 

 self! 



On the 14th day of August, 1852, I put up 

 70 rods of wire fence between my cow pasture 

 and field, through the woods, using the trees for 

 posts, occasionally cutting a stake and driving 

 where more than 8 feet space remained between 

 the trees, to which the wires are attached. I used 

 number 9 wire, annealed, and but 3 wires, the 

 highest 4 feet from the ground, and the spaces 

 10 inches, leaving a wide space at the bottom, of 

 course. I attached the wires to the trees, partly 

 with small staples made of the same wire, by 

 myself, and partly by sawing notches into the 

 trees and driving nails over the wires. I run 

 crooked wherever a tree came near. Four of us 

 put up the 70 rods in one day. The cows have 

 looked through it each summer, with approba- 

 tion at my corn-fields, but no animal has ever 

 broken through it, and no repairs have been 

 made upon it. The cost was, 



189 pounds annealed iron wire at 6 J cents $12,27 



Labor putting up 4,00 



Nails 25 



ToUl $16,52 



being about 23i cents per rod. 



As the fence was designed to be, and is, invis- 

 ible, at a few rods distance, I cared nothing about 

 its being straight. 



So much for experience, and now for a little 

 theory, which is based on some more practice, 

 and the wise observations of a large fraction of 

 a century. 



To build a good fence against cattle, I should 

 use number 9 wire, not annealed, because it is 

 ,said to be stronger. The telegraph companies, 

 1 am told, sometimes use galvanized wire which 

 does not rust, but that is too expensive. I should 



