1853, 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



219 



and detailed a plan for tightening the wires. It 

 was to have a small roller, with three holes bored 

 in it, oue in the middle and one in each end, 

 which, after the wires are drawn through the 

 holes in the posts, should be placed against the 

 second post, and the wire passed through the hole 

 in the centre ; then by means of pins placed in the 

 holes at the ends, the roller can be turned, and 

 tb*^ desired amount of tension obtained. There is 

 <3ne objection to wire fences. lie Iiad known two 

 or three valuable horses to be killed by them. — 

 Horses, when let out in the spring, are extremely 

 prone to gambol, and in racing from one end of a 

 field to the other, are apt to run with great force, 

 against a wire fence, from not observing it, and 

 are instantly killed. He did not know of any pre- 

 ventive, except to lead them round and let them 

 know that there is something for theni to look out 

 for. 



Mr. Howard, of the Boston Cuhirator,snhmit- 

 ted some remarks in relation to wire fences. He 

 knew of no better mode of constructing them than 

 tJiat described by Mr. Flint. They can be built 

 with very long fastenings, trees forming the best 

 posts; he knew of a line of wire fence where the 

 fastenings were half a mile apart. It is important 

 to have good wire. No. 8 is as small as should be 

 used. Annealed wire is not proper, because the 

 process of annealing renders it more liable to cor- 

 rode, and it has been proved by experiment that 

 it will support less weight than any other kind. 

 He had known wire fence which had been up four 

 years, and last season was perfectly sound. 



Mr. Clark, of Waltham, thought the subject 

 resolved itself into the character of the lands of 

 the farm to be fenced. If part is fit only for pas- 

 turage, it should be enclosed ; if arable, it should 

 be thrown into one lot. Where stones abound, 

 it is good policy, perhaps, to make them into 

 walks. 



The chairman,Mr. Brooks, inquired whether 100 

 acres of pasture land, divided into 10 acre lots, 

 would not furnish more feed than if thrown to- 

 gether. 



Prof. Nash replied, that he thought it would. 

 Better feed can be secured, and it can also be re- 

 served if desired. 



Mr. French thought the system might operate 

 very well for a couple of months in the first part 

 of the season, but after that time, he thought it 

 would be full as advantageous to throw the pas- 

 tures together. 



GUANO. 



Mr. Brooks, of Princeton, made an excellent 

 speech at the State House, on the subject of ma- 

 nures, while that question was under discussion. 

 He thought guano a valuable fertilizer, and may 

 be used, under certain circumstances, with advan- 

 tage. But the former, ho said, must place his chiej 



dependence upon the natural resources of the farm 

 for its fertilizing agents. He had a farm of fifty 

 acres left him, upon which, for a life-time, had 

 been kept six cows, a pair of oxen and a horse. 

 This, under tlie old practice, was the extent of its 

 capacity. He had added one hundred acres of 

 land, and was feeding from the whole forty-one 

 head of cattle. That is, he has added two propor- 

 tions of land and more than six proportions of 

 stock ! and had paid for the whole, from the profits 

 of the land. He believed that 25 per cent, of all 

 crops maybe sold from the farm annually, and the 

 farm still grow better ; and that from such sales a 

 nett gain of from 10 to 15 per cent, may be realized, 

 yearly. Mr. Brook's practice sustains his opin- 

 ion. 



But Ave intended to speak more particularly of 

 guano. We think well of it, and use it, moderate- 

 ly. There is danger, however, that our people 

 will get into s, furor about it, and neglect the true 

 sources of gain on their own lands. We hope to 

 see no hen, or pig, or tnuUicaulis fever on this sub- 

 ject, but that every cultivator will improve every 

 possible way to swell his domestic manure heaps 

 first, and then, as an auxiliary, he may carefully 

 test the virtues of guano. 



AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 



Collegiate education, as hitherto directed, can 

 hardly be said to have been available to farmers' 

 sons, except as they were about to leave the em- 

 ployment of their fathers for other callings. No 

 fault should, on this account, be ascribed to our 

 colleges. They were established mainly for the 

 purpose of educating young men for the learned 

 professions. They have done this ; have done it 

 well ; are still doing it fiiithfully and impartially, 

 taking young men from all the walks of life, as well 

 from the farm as otherwhere, and training them 

 for higher fields of usefulness. 



But while fiirmers, in common with all others, 

 can educate their sonsy'or leaving the farm, does 

 not the public good require that they should also 

 have the means of educating them to slay on the 

 farm? Has not a want of this kind sprung up in 

 the progress of our institutions? Is it not deeply 

 felt by the friends of enlightened agriculture? 

 and would not our colleges do well to meet it 

 promptly? As they have libraries, cabinets, and 

 courses of lectures already estabhshed, they could 

 meet the exigency altogether more economically 

 than it could be provided for by the establishment 

 of institutions exclusively for that purpose. 



The plan should embi*ace instruction in Analyti- 

 cal Chemistry in Natural History, and in Theoret- 

 ical and Practical Agriculture. Instruction could 

 be given in the first two, in connection with the 

 regular collegiate course, without increased ex- 



Sense. The students in agriculture should be un- 

 er the direction of an instructor appointed for 

 that specific purpose. He should be at once sci- 

 entific and practical — capable on the one hand of 

 directing their studies, and on the other of show- 

 ing them the best samples of all kinds of farm- 

 work, done by himself. A portion, at least, of 

 his lectures, should be in the open field, with hoe, 



