1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



389 



For the New Enfuland Farmer. 

 SETTING POSTS. 



Mr. Editor : — On pa^e 303 of New England 

 Former, monthly, is an inquiry for the best way 

 of setting posts and manner of building front fence, 

 by S. G. B. 



A very durable, and not very expensive way, is 

 to take ilat pieces of granite of sufficient size and 

 weight, and in the centre of these, drill a round 

 hole 3 inches deep , then take a piece of round inch 

 iron 20 inches long, and wedge it fast into the hole 

 you have drilled ; place the surface of the granite 

 an inch higher than the surface of the ground. 

 Then take a post about 3i feet long, and in one 

 end of it bore an inch auger hole the length of the 

 iron, 17 inches, and drive on the iron. This makes 

 -a very durable post, not muved by frost. After 

 setting the posts the desired length of the fence, 

 placing the posts about 8 feet apart, you can saw 

 into your posts near the bottom, and nail on a 

 joist 2 by 4, and on the top another ; to these you 

 can nail your pickets, or you can build with small 

 rails without pickets. 



Another way is, and it may not be more expen- 

 sive whei'e lumber is high, take round iron, 

 same as above, the height you wish to build the 

 fence, sharpen the top as rounds are turned for 

 fence, and on these put two rails lengthwise, one 

 near the bottom, and the other near the top, bored 

 with holes the proper distance for rounds, with an 

 inch auger. This painted, makes a very durable 

 and neat fence for front yards. e. g. c. 



Canaan, Mc., 1853. 



CANADA THISTLES. 



Mr. Tappan, in the Plow, Loom and Anvil, says 

 that Canada Thistles can be killed by deep and 

 thorough plowing. Or they may be killed by mow- 

 ing them when they have attained to their full 

 size. He says then the stalks are hollow ; the 

 blossoms are red — not much faded ; the lower 

 leaves are dead ; and the weather warm and dry. 



J. H., in the Rural New-Yorker, plants his 

 corn on the thistle ground, and after the corn is 

 hoed the last time passes through with a spade and 

 takes ou.t every thistle, root and branch, shakes 

 off the earth, and leaves the thistle on the ground, 

 where the first few hour's sun kills it. This pro- 

 cess he follows up for a week or ten days, and the 

 work is thoroughly accomplished. 



GOOD TOOLS FOR THE BOYS. 



The editor of the Portland Pleasure Boat gives 

 the public some excellent practical advice. In an 

 article in which he furnishes some hints in regard 

 to making agriculture a cheerful and agreable oc- 

 cupation, he closes the subjects thus : 



Farmers, furnish your young boys with light, 

 neat and good tools, and teach them how to keep 

 them in good order, if you would have them love 

 agriculture, and give them a little lot for their 

 own use. 



If you wish to discourage them and drive them 

 off to the city, to sea, or to California, give them 

 rusty hoes, broken shovels, dull scythes, &c., to 

 work with, and not allow them to plant a seed or 



a tree for themselves. Every boy on a farm should 

 he allowed a lot on which to make a miniature 

 farm, lie may have a row of ccrn, a row of po- 

 tatoes, a patch of wheat, oats, beans, grass, and 

 if you keep animals give him a calf, a colt, or a 

 lamb to raise. 



With the products of his little farm he can sup- 

 ply himself witli books, clothes, &c., so that you 

 will be gainers by being liberal, and will encourage 

 industry and beget a love for agriculture in your 

 sons, wliich will in future years lead them on to 

 perfection in the art, and place them among the 

 highest of nature's noblemen. 



LIME FROM GAS WORKS. 



Mr. Brown : — Please inform me in your usual 

 way, of the principal qualities, and relative value 

 of the refuse lime of gas factories, when the gas is 

 obtained from bituminous coal, and best time and 

 mode of applying it as manure. 



Yours, respectfully, t. h. c. 



Locust Lawn, Indiana, 1853. 



LIME FROM GAS WORKS. 



Gentlemen : — A subscriber to your useful New 

 England Farmer solicits the inquiry respecting 

 the lime used at the gas works, for tlie purpose of 

 purifying the rosin and extracting the ammonia. 

 It is very powerful, and retains a peculiar, strong 

 smell. Can it be used for agricultural purposes? 

 It is very cheap, 25 cents a ban-el. Will it an- 

 swer for decomposing peat — earth, or muck. I 

 have heard of its being used in Essex county, but 

 have not seen notice of it in any paper. 



Yours, respectfully, h. s. 



Portsmouth, June, 1853. 



Remarks. — W^ill some of our correspondents re- 

 ply to these letters of inquiry 1 



33ou'3 Department. 



DUTIES AT SCHOOL. 



Quinctilian includes most all the duties of schol 

 ars in this one piece of advice which he gives 

 them — to love those who teach them as they love 

 the science which they learn of their instructors, 

 and to look upon their teacher as fathers, from 

 whom they derive not the life of the body, but 

 that instruction which is in a manner the life of 

 the soul. If they possess this sentiment of affec- 

 tion and respect, it suffices to make them apt to 

 learn during the time of their studies, and full 

 of gratitude all the rest of their lives. Ducility, 

 which consists in submitting to the directions given 

 to them, in readily receiving the instruction of 

 their master, and in reducing them to practice, 

 is as properly the virtue of scholars as that of 

 masters is to teach well. The one can do nothing 

 without the other, as it is not sufficient for a la- 

 borer to sow the seed unless the eartli, after hav- 

 ing opened her bosom to receive it, encourage its 

 growth by warmtli and moisture; so the whole 

 fruit of instruction depends upon a good corres- 

 pondence between the master and scholar. Grat- 

 itude for tliose who have labored in our education 

 is the characteristic of an honest man and the 

 tribute of a good heart. "Who is there amongst 



