576 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec 



A NUMBER ONE FENOS. 



The following description of a fence has been 

 furnished by our friend Dr. Charles Jewett, of 

 Millbury, Mass., and we doubt not will afford valu- 

 able suggestions to many who have plenty of tim- 

 ber and need a large amount of fence. He says : — 



Passing recently through the eastern part of 

 Maine, I could not but admire the excellent char- 

 acter of their fences, not only on account of the 

 durability of the materials, but the skill and in- 

 genuity manifested in the construction. Cedar is 

 the principal, I might almost say the only, mate- 

 rial employed for permanent fences. The cus- 

 tomary length of rails, or poles, is sixteen feet, 

 and the most approved manner of constructing 

 fences, is that illustrated in the cut above. 



The usual length of the block at the bottom is 

 three and a half feet, and the flat surface, if it be 

 a split stick, is turned toward the ground. The 

 holes bored into it for the reception of the stakes, 

 are made with a two and a half inch auger. Stakes 

 about five feet long are placed in the block, about 

 sixteen inches apart, though the space between 

 them is varied to adapt it to the size of the poles. 



A supporting frame for each joint in the fence 

 may be prepared within doors, in foul weather, 

 if the materials be housed or placed within reach, 

 and the time required to erect your fence upon the 

 field will thus be much lessened. The stakes 

 should be driven into the bottom block, or base, as 

 firmly as may be done without danger of spliting 

 it. Water will thus be Ifept out of the joint, and 

 the danger of decay consequently lessened. 



The cut will suggest the manner of putting on 

 the cap or tie at the top. The frames for the 

 joints, being thus completed, are placed along 

 the line and receive the poles successively, the ends 

 of the poles being passed by each other within the 

 stakes, to the distance of about one foot. Should 

 the poles vary much in size where they lap, the 

 largest may be chipped down to receive the cross- 

 block to the size or thickness of the smaller pole, 

 or, as is sometimes done, a small stick of the same 

 material, or a flat stone maybe laid on the smaller 

 *o secure a level with the larger pole. (>ross 



blocks sawed from the same material as the rails, 

 are placed as seen in the cut, between every pair of 

 rails, and four or five rails, according to their size, 

 gives your fence a proper elevation. A fence thus 

 constructed of cedar poles, of good size, with other 

 parts in proportion, is a fixed fact for a quarter of 

 a century, and then reset, with iiew stakes only, 

 it will serve you for another period of twenty-five 

 years. It occupies less room than the crooked 

 fence, is not subject to injury or displacement by 

 the heaving of the earth by frost in winter, like 

 fences having posts fixed in the ground, and in the 

 opinion of your humble servant, it constitutes one 

 of the handsomest field fences ever yet construct- 

 ed; and if you take into consideration its durabili- 

 ty and exemption from the trouble and expense of 

 frequent repairs, I think it must be one of the 

 cheapest fences also ever yet constructed. Maine 

 can furnish a sufiicient amount of cedar poles to 

 put a five rail fence around the New England states 

 and on all the boundary lines between them. Good 

 cedar poles do not vol, though in the lapse of cen- 

 turies they may wear out from the pattering of 

 the rain drops and friction if frequently moved. 

 Straight chestnut poles with the other parts of the 

 same material, would make an excellent fence I 

 have no doubt if constructed in the way I have 

 described and illustrated in the cut, although it 

 would not be so durable as a cedar fence. 



Correction. — The remarks in our last paper 

 upon Mr. Pierce's article in relation to what he 

 raised on 1 1-4 acre, contained an error or two 

 which we hasten to correct. It should have 

 read : — "The Canada corn will make a bushel and 

 two quarts of shelled corn to every two baskets of 

 ears, making a little more than 106 bushels, 

 worth, this year, say. 



Corn, 108 bushels •. 8106,00 



Potatoes, 25 do •12,25 



Beans, 15 do 22,.50 



Pumpkins, 7 loads 7,00 



$147,75 ■ 



Is not that a good deal better than to half work 

 4 1-2 acres in order to get 20 bushels of corn 

 per acre onlyl Will not many farmers experi- 

 ment next spring upon half an acre, and satisfy 

 themselves whether high cultivation is not the 

 most profitable ^ 



CoiniiTTBE Reports.— Gentlemen who acted on 

 Committees at the late Show in Middlesex county, 

 and whose duty it was to make Reports, are re- 

 quested to send them to the Secretary at Concord, 

 or at this office, Quincy Hall, Boston. 



In consequence of an alteration in the law, all 

 Societies who wish to secure the State bounty, 

 must make their returns on or before the Tenth 

 of December, 1853. It becomes necessary, there 

 fore, that all returns be made immediately. 



