214 THE COMPLETE FARMER 



greater than an equal quantity of horse and cow dung. This 

 may be relied on.' 



FEXCES. The kinds of fence and manner of fencing 

 should vary according to the difference of soils and the 

 kinds of materials for feacing. In new lands logs are and 

 ought to be most used. When built of white pine, they will 

 last about twenty years. Other sorts of Avood, such as pitch 

 pine, hemljck, ash, oak, &c., will endure for a considerable 

 time if not placed too near the ground. If a fence be made 

 partly of white pine and partly of other wood, the former 

 should be laid nearest to the ground. If logs are pealed 

 they will last the longer in fences. 



It has been practised by soins farmers to make posts for 

 fences very durable by the following simple process. They 

 bore a hole in that part of the post which, when set, will be 

 just at the surface of the earth, with such a slope as will 

 carry it downward an inch or two. They then fill the hole 

 with salt, which will preserve the timber a long time from 

 decay. 



In many parts of the country posts and rails will be found 

 the cheipest materials far fence. In making fences of this 

 description, it is advised by Mr. Preston, of Stockport, Penn- 

 sylvania, to set the posts with the top parts in the ground, 

 and he asserts that they will, in that position, last three or 

 four times as long as when they are set with the butt ends 

 down. He advises, also, in making fences, always to place 

 the rails with the heart side up. 



The best timber for rails, according to Dr. Deane, is red 

 cedar. It is easy to split, light to carry and handle, suffi- 

 ciently strong, and the mDst durable of any. In the Trans- 

 actions of the Society of Arts, in England, there is an ac- 

 count which states in substance that posts of oak, and others 

 of chestnut, were set down in Somersetshire, where they had 

 to undergo repairs in eighteen years. The oak posts were 

 then found to be unserviceable, and the chestnut very little 

 worn. The oak posts were renewed, the chestnut remained, 

 and in twenty-five years afterwards they were not so much 

 rotted as the oak. 



If the lower ends of posts are scorched in a hot flame be- 

 fore they are put into the ground, they will last the longer. 

 Some recommend soaking them in sea-water to keep them 



