1850. 



THE GENESEE FARMER, 



05 



PRESERVING FENCE POSTS FROM ROT, Ice. 



Eds. Parmer : - — Much has been Baid anC much 

 more will undoubtedly be said on the subject of 

 making fence. Much information has been elicited 

 and much more yet remains in store to be hereafter 

 given to the public. It is a subject of much magni- 

 tude to the farmer ; for a good fence is an important 

 item, subject to no small outlay both in its original 

 construction and its subsequent necessary repair. 

 If your fence is not made of stone or iron, then it 

 must be made of materials more perishable. And 

 the question is, if the fence is made of wooden mate- 

 rials, what mode of construction and what timber is 

 the best and most durable? Whoever has turned his 

 attention to that subject for the last thirty years, 

 must have perceived that all around him are common 

 rail fences which have stood from thirty to forty 

 years, having most of the rails in a state of perfect 

 preservation. He will also see others, having stood 

 less than fifteen years, in a state of total decay. And 

 if he takes a still closer view, he will discover that 

 the fences most durable are made of rails of cliestuut, 

 or black ash, as No. i, for durability, black oak and 

 cucumber as No. 2, and hemlock, hickory and bass- 

 wood as No. 3. 



With these facts before us, let us see what would 

 be the best material for posts to use in constructing 

 a board- or even a wire fence : for no one will doubt 

 the necessity, or at least the economy of using the 

 cheapest anil at the same time most durable timber. 

 Red cedar posts, set in the earth for a board fence, 

 will last — I can not tell how long j for I have only 

 tried thirty-two years, and as yet tney are all sound. 

 They cost with us about $20 per 100, or 20 cts. each. 

 Chestnut and black ash will probably last from ten 

 to fifteen years ; oak about ten years ; and the almost 

 uniform lime for hemlock is six years. I have em- 

 phasized the word hemlock from the fact that, except- 

 ing cedar, it has been more universally used than any 

 other timber, while it has hardly its equal in its 

 tendency to rapid decomposition. Even the posts 

 sustaining the telegraph wires from Buflalo to Cleve- 

 land are mainly hemlock ; consequently they will 

 not stand over about six years without renewal. 



Every observer must have discovered that the post 

 first gives way at the point where it enters the earth. 

 To prevent the rot at that point has been the subject 

 of much inquiry and many experiments. I will not 

 attempt to go through with all the diiTerent methods 

 taken to prevent the rot, such as charring, lime, ashes, 

 corrosive sublimate, fcc, but will ask the reader's 

 attention to the one fact that, while the post decays 

 at the place where it meets the surface of the ground, 

 he will frequently find all above that in a state of 

 entire preservation. The great question to be solved, 

 then, is, How can we prevent the post from decaying 

 at that point ? I answer, that it can be done by one 

 of the most simple and easy methods. But let us, in 

 the first place, see what is the cause of the decay at 

 that particular point. First, It is not moisture ; for 

 timber will remain at the bottom of a river or lake 

 for centuries. Second, It is not the want of mois- 

 ture : for timber will also last for centuries in a 

 building wlicre it is kept dry. It is, then, a combi- 

 nation of moisture and air that does the mischief. 

 The remedy I now propose will not cause the post to 

 endure for ever, but it will cause every part to be 

 durable alike — the part below the earth to be as 

 lasting, or nearly so, as the part above the earth. 



Dig the hole for the post a sufficient depth — say 

 two feet. Make the hole much larger than the post, 

 especially in the longitudinal direction of the fence ; 

 put the post in its place and fill the hole around the 

 post with round cobble stcscs, weighing from five 

 to twenty pounds each. Let none of the earth be 

 returned to tne place it came from ; the stones sup- 

 port the post and at the same time admit the air to 

 it, and it is thus preserved. I have sometimes dug 

 the hole three or four feet lung in the direction the 

 fence runs, and about one foot wide, then placing one 

 large flat stone on each side the post in the direction 

 of the strain. If the stones have an uneven surface, 

 so much the better for admitting the air. In using 

 this method, I leave the remainder of the hole with- 

 out filling up. S. S.— ff'cstJletd, JW 1'., 1850. 



MAICAGEMENT OF SWINE 



Messrs. Editors: — I give you my experience ia 

 the management of swine. In the first place, I take 

 December pigs, let them run with the sows two 

 months, then wean them and enclose them in a pen, 

 in which they are moderately fed on corn with as 

 much niiik from the dairy, or good swill of some 

 kind, as will keep up a thriftiness. As soon as 

 clover is in blossom, I leave off grain feeding and 

 give clover three times per day until after harvest. 

 I then turn them on to stubble. They remain there 

 until about the first of September, whence I re- 

 move them to a pasture adjacent to my com field, 

 and keep up their condition by giving them a small 

 quantity of green corn. When the time of fattening 

 comes on, I have my hogs in very fine cnnditiosi to 

 take on fast. I enclose them in a pen and feed thcia 

 altogether on corn and water, and by the time the 

 weather is cold enough, which is the latter part of 

 November, I slaughter them at the age of abnut 

 eleven and a half months. With this treatment they 

 weigh from 225 to 250 pounds dressed pork. lu the 

 mean time, my second litter comes on in June, which 

 have the benefit of the stubble with the first litter, 

 and running with the sows, and sucking, they get a 

 very fine start. At about two months y'd I wean 

 them and enclose them in a peii, takiijg the same 

 process as with the first litter, only forcing their 

 growth more rapidly by giving good slops aud as 

 much corn as prudent, without fattening too rapidly 

 for their growth. I continue this process until the 

 first of January. I then slaughter thcsn Et about 

 the age of six and a half months. They will average 

 1 50 pounds of dressed pork very readily. This is do 

 fiction, but matter of fact, from personal obsor-ration. 

 You will now perceive that from one snw, say 

 having two litters in one year, eight piga in each 

 litter, the result will be as follows : First litter, 

 eight pigs, weighing 225 to 260 pounds each, a^-re- 

 gate 1800 to 2000 pounds ; second Utter, eight pigs, 

 average ioO pounds, aggregate 1200 pounds ; which 

 would make from 3000 to 3200 po'jinds of dressed 

 pork from one breeder. This has been my treatment 

 of hogs for tlie last few years, and I am satisfied it 

 is the most profitable way I have ever tried. Brother 

 farmers, this is an experiment on the li^dford hog, 

 which has the qualities of enomious siz<? and great 

 tendency to fatten at any age. Yours, fee, Edjtond 

 J. Rosenbergbr.— Smi/fe's Creek F&rm, (near JVow 

 Market,) Rockingham Co., Va., JarHy, 1850. 



Industry and perseverance merit success. 



II 



