236 AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



which is buried, will add to its duration. So also will im- 

 bedding it in ashes, lime, charcoal, or clay ; or it may be 

 bored at the surface with a large auger, diagonally down- 

 wards and nearly through, tilled with salt, and closely plug- 

 ged. The best timber for posts in the order of its durability, 

 is red cedar, yellow locust, white oak and chestnut. We re- 

 cently saw red cedar posts used for a porch which we were 

 assured had been standing exposed to the weather previous 

 to the Revolution, and they were still perfectly sound. The 

 avidity with which silicious sands and gravel act upon wood, 

 renders a post fence expensive for such soils. 



There are large portions of our country where timber 

 abounds, especially in the uncleared parts of it, where the 

 zig-zag, worm or Virginia fence is by far the most econom- 

 ical. The timber is an incumbrance and therefore costs 

 nothing, and the rails can be cut and split to 10 or 12 feet 

 long, for 50 to 75 cents per 100 ; and the hauling and plac- 

 ing is still less. With good rails, well laid up from the 

 ground on stones or durable blocks, and properly crossed at 

 the ends and locked at the top, they are firm and durable. 

 Staking the corners by projecting rails gives an unsightly 

 appearance at all times, and is particularly objectionable for 

 plowing, as it considerably increases the waste ground. The 

 same object is obtained by locking the fence when completed, 

 with a long rail on each side, one end resting on the ground 

 and the other laid into the angle in a line with the fence. 

 More symmetry and neatnes is secured, and a trifling amount 

 of timber saved, by putting two small upright stakes, one on 

 each sido. of the angle, and securing them by a white oak 

 plank six inches wide by eighteen inches long, with two 

 holes of three inches diameter bored eight inches apart, and 

 slipped over the posts after most of the rails have been laid. 

 The additional ones which may be laid over it, keep 

 tiie yokes or caps in their place and the whole is thus firmly 

 bound together. In addition to the timber designated for 

 posts, rails may be made from any kind of oak, black, walnut, 

 black and white ash, elm, and hickory. 



Turf and clay fences have been tried in this country with- 

 out success. Our frosts and rains are so severe as to break 

 and crumble them down continually. Cattle tread upon and 

 gore them ; and to swine and sheep they scarcely offer any 

 resistance. Wire fences have been suggested, and if gal- 

 vanized wire which is not liable to rust, could be procured at 

 a reasonable cost, it would combine gracefulness and utility 



