1854. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



327 



I can see no reason why the tender varieties of 

 dwarf pears and plums may not be protected in 

 the same way, and thus largely increase our lux- 

 uries. A little pains must be taken even with the 

 apple tree to make it flourish. I have known per- 

 sons object to cultivating the Isabella grape, sim- 

 ply because they were told that the vines must be 

 protected through the winter; such a person 

 ought not to possess many comforts. 



N. T. Tra-E. 



Bethel, Me., May 27, 1854. 



Remarks. — Wo thank Mr. True, and "Blytue- 

 wooD," for their prompt, interesting and mlua- 

 ble replies to our queries about protscting peach 

 trees. "We have often thought of trying the ex- 

 periment with matting, but never found the con- 

 vc7iient opportuijjty. These letters show strongly 

 t!ie importance of a free interchange of facts and 

 opinions through the columns of an agricultural 

 newspajper. 



POST FOR FENCES. 



i\lR. FsEAS : — Where it is necessary, as it gen- 

 erally is, to erect farm fences with posts, it is a 

 matter of some importance to secure such materi- 

 als as will be most durable. Oak, ash, chestnut, 

 and cedar, are used in different States, and all, 

 perliaps, have a higher degree of value than other 

 kinds of native wood. Yet the natural duralnlity, 

 or power of resisting decomposition, which these 

 woods possess, may be very materially increased 

 by art. The practice of setting post in a reversed 

 position, or with the tops in a direction contrary 

 to that of gi'owth, is highly recommended by some 

 Avriters, and in many cases wliere the experiment 

 has been made, its result appears very strongly to 

 favor the theory upon which it is predicated. Still 

 we are in possession of no reliable data which can 

 be regarded as sufficient authority for an unquali- 

 fied recommendation of the usage, and must await 

 father developments, ere we accord to it the impor- 

 tance which its numerous, and in many instances 

 intelligent advocates, assume for it. 



But fliere can remain no dou])t in the mind of 

 any person, tolerably well informed on scientific 

 subjects, that there are many ways in which the 

 durability of wood, when placed beneath the soil, 

 can be increased cconomkally. Nature herself 

 teaches us this fact. If, for instance, we desire to 

 secure the duraljility of a fence post, wc know 

 that charring the portion exposed to the action of 

 the soil, will enable it to resist decay. Charcoal, 

 we have all of us seen, is almost indestructible 

 when inhumed in wet or moist situations ; and 

 hence, if we create a coat of tliis substance around 

 the sides, and over the lower end of a post, we in- 

 fer that it will not speedily decay, or rot. Per- 

 haps of all methods of resisting this contingency 

 — always unpleasant, and often expensive to the 

 farmer, charring, is alone tlie most economical and 

 effectual. Posts that rarely last more than eight 

 or ten years, may tlnis be made ta endure twenty 

 or thirty. This is not mere theoretical assertion ; 

 it has been actually and repeatedly demonstrated 

 by experiment, and its truth could be corroborated 

 by the testimony of hundreds. Kyanizing,or the 

 process of first exhausting the air in the pores of 

 wood, and then filling them with some mineral so- 



lution, is another method ; but this is too expen- 

 sive for most farmers. The wood so prepai-ed, 

 however, becomes almost as hard and indestructi- 

 ble as iron, resists friction, and is applied to uses 

 where all the strength and impermeability, as Avell 

 as rigidity of iron, is required. In a long run, it 

 would, no doubt, richly remunerate one for tlie 

 expense, but at present it can only be made avail- 

 able on works where large capitals are employed. 

 The abundance of acid contained in the sap, is 

 one of the principal causes of rot. Hence the 

 steeping of it in solutions of potash ,lime,or in strong 

 ley, tends to promote its durability ,as the alkales- 

 cent liquid destroj's the acid, and frees the wood 

 from its action. — Geimantown Telegraph. 



We coi^y the above for the purpose of endorsing 

 its truths and objectihg to such portions of the 

 article as we conceive to be erroneous. 



There can be no doubt that the charring of a 

 portion of the posts to l)e inserted in the'ground, 

 materially increases their durability, as the anti- 

 septic property of the charcoal formed must have 

 such an effect. It is also true that revL-rsing the 

 posts relatively to the position of their growth 

 will cause them to last for a greater length of 

 time. 



When the lower or butt end of a lo,:j; is phu.-ed 

 in water, the water will rise in the capillary tubes, 

 and thus, by the combined effects of moisture ;'.nd 

 atmosphere, decay will ensue. When the position, 

 however, of the log is reversed, and the upper 

 end placed downward, the water will not rise, and 

 hence the conditions for decay are not so readily 

 present. 



Wc should, however, differ widely from t'le 

 writer of that article in his assertion that the in- 

 troduction of salts, proper for the preservation of 

 wood is too expensive for the use of the farm:;!' ; 

 for many salts may be used with great profit, \i\ :- 

 terially increasing the duraljility of the wood. 



The cause of tlie decay of wood is princip;'.Hy 

 due to tlie presence of vegetal)Ie albumen, and if 

 this be coagulated by the use of such mineral salts 

 as will render it insoluble, the ordinary conditions 

 for decay will be arrested ; thus, in a hogshead or 

 or tub containing a dilute solution of corrosive sub- 

 limate, chloride of zinc, or sulphate of iron, posts 

 may be immersed to the deptli intended for inser- 

 tion in the ground, and tlie vegetable albumen 

 contained in the capillary tubes of the wood will 

 be coagulated and rendered indestructiljle, and 

 that too without material cost. 



The most effective of these substances is cor- 

 rosive sublimate, discovered by Mr. John Kyan, 

 of England, the inventor of the Kyanizing pro- 

 cess. ^ 



Some of the sleepers of the Amboy railroad 

 were Kyanized, and after having been in use for 

 more than twenty years, are still perfectly sound, 

 while those not so treated, have required renew- 

 al. 



In the Woolwich dockyard, in England, a num- 

 ber of posts were Kyanizedmorc than thirty years 

 ago, and still they are found to be in a perfect 

 state of preservation, while those not so treated 

 have required frequent renewal. 



The chief decay of posts occurs at the iuuuedi- 

 ate surface of the ground, where moisture and air 

 more frequently meet and exercise their comluncd 

 inlluence. A hole Iwred in a post immediately 

 above the surface of the ground, and a small por- 



