226 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. 



he felt sure that he had got an idea in rea^ard to fence 

 posts that was just what was wanted. I introduced him to 

 one of the proprietors of a large mill there, and said to him, 

 " If you will take that book, and sit down and look it over, 

 you will find out whether you have really invented a fence 

 post or not." In half an hour he came to me, one of the 

 most discouraged men I have ever seen, and said, "Every 

 point I have got is in that book thirty or forty times." 

 There is not one pattern, of some three or four hundred of 

 those posts, which is regarded as a perfect success as an iron 

 post. If you have a post heavy enough to stand erect, it 

 involves great weight of iron ; if you have a light one, 

 you will get deceived with regard to the dural)ility of the 

 post. 



I want to make one suggestion, and that is, whether, in 

 the case of a leaping animal, the top of the fence should not 

 always be of barbed wire ; otherwise you invite the horse or 

 other animal to leap, or there is danger of his leaping. 



Mr. Hersey. I tliink that the barbed-wire fence will be 

 adopted generally throughout the country, on account of its 

 economy. I think it will be a great help to the farmers of 

 Massachusetts whose fences are now rapidly running down. 

 I form this opinion from observation and from experience. 

 A neighl)or of mine, who has had a great deal of trouble in 

 keeping his fences up during the past twenty-live years, has, 

 during the past six years, put up probably two miles of 

 wire fence ; but a considerable portion of that fence is only 

 one strand, which he nails to the posts of his old fence. 

 Where he sets new posts, he puts them twenty -five feet 

 apart, and puts on only two wires. But with this fence he 

 has succeeded in keeping his cattle in his pasture. I be- 

 lieve they have never gone through it. If we can do this, 

 you can see at once how great is the economy. The wire 

 will cost only about twenty-two cents a rod where you put 

 it for a permanent fence, exclusive of the expense of the posts. 

 In some portions of the State, the posts are not very expen- 

 sive, but if you can put your posts twenty-five feet apart, 

 the expense is not going to be very great anywhere. I 

 was so satisfied from observation of my neighbor and his 

 success, that I have myself, during the past year, put up 



