GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM. 



The following is said to be the best system as yet adopted in 

 the state of New York for the erection of stone fences; it is 

 highly recommended, having received the sanction of many 

 eminent farmers, and among them the Editor of the Cultivator, 

 from which Journal we extract the account. 



Where stones abound upon a farm, and require to be taken, 

 off the field to facilitate the tillage, it is no doubt economical 

 to work them into stone fences, and the sooner the better, as 

 by it an incumbrance is removed and a substantial fence erect- 

 ed. The economy of making stone fences in other cases, will 

 depend on the scarcity or price of other materials for dead 

 fences, or the facility of getting stone. These circumstances 

 will vary on almost every farm, and must become matters of 

 individual calculation. But all experience teaches, that when 

 stone walls are to be made, there is economy in the long run 

 in making them well, that is, in making them so that they shall 

 prove an efficient barrier to farm stock, and out last the maker 

 of them. If they are not efficient and durable they become a 

 source of incalculable trouble and expense. The damage to 

 crops and the expense of frequent repairs, to say nothing of 

 their unsightly appearance, will soon overbalance the cost of 

 building them well in the outset. "What you do, do well," is 

 a maxim that will apply with particular force to this branch of 

 farm improvement. 



The material necessary for a good wall is flat stones; the re- 

 quisites to ensure durability are, a substantial foundation, which 

 will give equally to pressure or frosts a sufficient base to 

 sustain the superstructure a coping and a good workman: 

 and to render them efficient they should be four and a half or 

 five feet high, either entirely of stone, or crowned with a suffi- 

 cient wooden structure. If the mass of stone are not flat, or 

 rather, if they are all round, they will not stay long in their 

 place without a broad base and great slope upon the exterior 

 surface. Round stones should be only used in what are de- 

 nominated half walls, and which are to be crowned with wood. 

 If the foundation gives unequally, the structure of the wall will 

 soon be deranged and part of it will fall. A prudent way is 

 to base it upon the hard part or sub-soil, by clearing off the 

 surface of the earth. Stone walls, unless laid in lime, which by 

 the bye is an excellent practice, particularly about farm build- 

 ings where the expense can be afforded, should incline inwards 

 from the base to the coping. The slope should be an inch in 

 a foot; and if the wall is five feet high, and twelve inches broad 

 at top, it should be two feet broad at bottom. The coping, 

 which consists of broad stones extending across the top, tends, 

 by its weight and its bond, to keep the materials in place. 



