66 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



Feb. 



FENCES. 



Few persons have given themselves the trouble 

 to investigate and ascertain the cost of fences in a 

 single township, even, of our State ; they know that 

 fencing materials are scarce and costly, and that a 

 set of post and rail fence, of the most thorough 

 character, will scarcely last a single generation ; 

 yet it would seem that too little consideration is 

 given a subject of so much importance. As Charles 

 Lamb, or somebody else said, that a "thing of beau- 

 ty is a joy forever," so a good stone wall is a fence 

 forever. If a trench is dug so as to prevent severe 

 action of the frost underneath the stones, a com- 

 mon balance wall well laid up will keep in pretty 

 good condition for a hundred years, on lands not 

 badly thrown by frost. This is a stability which 

 justifies considerable care and expense in the con- 

 struction. 



On some low grounds, Ave observe that willows 

 are used by being planted three or four feet apart, 

 and rails or strips of board nailed to them. This 

 will answer very well where lands are not to be 

 plowed ; but where plowing is necessary once in 

 six or eight years, marginial trees are the worst 

 kind of posts. On alluvial land, the roots of ma- 

 ples and oaks will extend themselves a hundred feet, 

 and willows and elms more than two hundred feet ; 

 so that if the trees stand within twenty or thirty 

 feet of each other, the roots will become so strong 

 and interlaced as to make plowing a difficult and 

 exjiensive, if not an impossible, process. Wher- 

 ever stones can be obtained at moderate cost, there 

 can be little doubt that they compose the most eco- 

 nomical material we can use. 



Much may be saved by fewer divisions on the 

 farm. A five acre lot is small enough, even on a 

 small farm ; and on a large farm, twenty acres in 

 a single lot are better than ten. The orchard 

 should be compact ; if it is thought absolutely nec- 

 essary that the cattle should annually have posses- 



rest they would again meet in collision, approach- 

 ing each other with locomotive speed, at the rate 

 of some fifty or sixty miles per hour. On recover- 

 ing from the stunning effects of such a sudden at- 

 tack, they would'again resume the hand to hand 

 fight, rising up into the air, springing up distances 

 of from twenty to thirty feet, and coming down on 

 each other with fearful violence. Meanwhile, the 

 sea for a great distance round about had assumed 

 a bright red color, indicating that an immense 

 amount of blood had been shed. Other animals 

 appeared to have fled from the scene of the engage- 

 ment, even birds kept at a distance from it. For 

 three hours the battle was prolonged, at the close 

 of which, one of the whales became motionless, and 

 the other retired from the field of battle. The 

 next morning, as early as four o'clock, the whale 

 referred to was found not far from the spot where 

 the engagement took place ; and from various 

 marks on his body, including a broken jaw bone, 

 there is no reason to doubt that he was one of the 

 two belligerents of the previous afternoon. The 

 body gave every indication of having been very re- 

 cently alive. 



For the New England Farmer. 



TREES BY HIGHWAYS AND RAIL- 

 ROADS. 



The subject of trees beside the highway and 

 railroads and all public places, seems to be creep- 

 ing into the public mind gradually every year. A 

 move was made in the Essex Agricultural Socie- 

 ty, during the last year, to plant forest trees on 

 all public grounds, and beside the highways 

 throughout the country, offering a premium for the 

 best plantation. The subject was agitated a little, 

 but as there was no plan sufficiently digested, the 

 question was dropped. 



It appears to me that the subject need only to 

 be fairly and clearly presented, to receive favor. 

 With a view to economy and profit, the subject 

 claims the attention of the whole community. This 

 consideration alone, if rightly viewed, would induce 

 the owners bordering on the highway to improve 

 so much of their lands as would be put to no other 

 use, and which would be otherwise useless. The 

 locust would, in twenty years, become a tree Avorth 

 at least one dollar, if it should be wanted : and 



