GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM. 379 



and rail, and the stone fence, (wherever the materials for its 

 construction abound,) were best adapted to the country and the 

 interests of the farmer. Having determined in favour of the 

 post with fine rails, for general purposes, he says: 



"I turn ray attention to that particular kind, and will proceed to pro vide for 

 its future supply. Plant an acre of ground with chestnut and locust seeds, five- 

 sixths of it with chestnut for rails, and one-sixth with locust for posts. Four 

 trees will grow on a perch, making six hundred and forty on the acre; I sup- 

 pose that forty of them will fail, leaving six hundred trees, each of which will 

 produce in thirty years, and every twenty to twenty-five years afterwards, 

 twenty rails or posts, which will yield at each cutting, twelve thousand posts 

 and rails, or two thousand panels. Then say the acre of land is worth eighty 

 dollars, it will reduce the materials to four cents per panel, which, with 

 making and putting up, will not exceed twenty-five cents. In point of durability, 

 I am persuaded that it will be exceeded by none except the stone, and it will 

 have an advantage over that by being inoveable when necessary." 



Mr. WORTH'S reasons for preferring the locust post and 

 chestnut rails, are thus stated. It occupies less ground than 

 any other the borders of the fields are easily kept clean the 

 great durability of the materials the ease with which they 

 may be obtained by every farmer as the trees flourish in a 

 tolerably good soil in every part of our country. One acre 

 thus appropriated is sufficient for a farm of five hundred acres; 

 and consequently, a quarter of an acre will be abundant for a 

 farm of one hundred acres. To what better or more profitable 

 purpose can so small a portion of the best land on the farm be 

 appropriated. The only objection is that there is no imme- 

 diate availability; that from twenty-five to thirty years must 

 elapse before the trees can be made into rails. This objection 

 is as unsatisfactory as it is unsound. There are thousands, 

 who, if they were now to appropriate sufficient ground, ac- 

 cording to the size of their farms, and plant it as proposed, 

 may, with the blessing of Providence, live to enjoy its advan- 

 tages for years. What! not plant an orchard or a grove of 

 locust, or a cluster of maple, because we shall not live to enjoy 

 the benefits thereof! Such statements should never find an. 

 abiding place in the bosom of an American farmer; for every 

 intelligent man knows full well, that every measure of this 

 kind, tends not merely to adorn and beautify his plantation, 

 but also greatly to increase its prospective value. Every far- 

 mer should see without delay to having his grounds suitably 

 stocked with trees. 



It is estimated that a fence of locust posts and chestnut rails, 

 with very little repair, will last for at least sixty years; so that 

 the necessities of the farm would require only the third cutting 

 of the timber the two intermediate cuttings, yielding thirty 

 thousand posts and rails, are ready for a market, which would 

 be readily found, and which at the low rate of five dollars a 



