No. 144.] 145 



pletely, at the moment when the nut or pit was being formed. On 

 examining the brandies we found the pith turned black, with a 

 sort of vegetable gangrene. Prunes also were partially attacked 

 in the environs of Paris, same as the cherries. At Montreuil many 

 peaches were destroyed in the same way- 

 Prof. Mapes said, it appears by the last census that we had then 

 118,000,000 of acres of land in cultivation. It is a fair calculation 

 to assume that this land is divided into an average of twenty acre 

 fields, and that the labor of fencing, exclusive of the materials, is 

 worth 50 cents a rod. This would be $113.25 for every field, 

 and $670,760,273 for the whole, the simple interest of which will 

 astonish any man who will make the calculation. This is a mon- 

 strous tax upon industry, besides the loss of land upon which the 

 fence stands. I don't know how it is with others, but I cannot 

 afford to lose the use of a strip six feet wide. Fields are cut up 

 into small lots just from custom, without any reason. Cattle are 

 permitted to run into the road by custom ; no law sancitons it, 

 and no Legislature dares to make such a law. I cannot afford to 

 pasture cattle, because it is cheaper to soil them j it may not be 

 everywhere, but that is a subject for calculation. No one can af 

 ford it, unless upon very low priced lands. Osage orange hedge 

 is becoming very common in some places, but that is a matter of 

 calculation whether it can be afforded. Mr. Randall told us here 

 the other day that he has long lines of it upon his farm in Mary- 

 land, but is obliged to run a cutting plow alongside to keep the 

 roots within bounds, as the roots lun out twelve feet each way. 

 I believe this kind of hedge wiU make a good fence if you can 

 afford the room. Stone walls may be built profitably in some 

 places, by making an underdrain under the wall. All walls should 

 have a ditch filled with cobble stone, to prevent the frost heaving 

 down the wall. Wood posts for fences should all be kyanized at 

 the bottom, or set reversed from the way they grew, with corro- 

 sive sublimate plugged in the upper end. It is best to kyanize, 

 and not so expensive. The sleepers of the Camden and Amboy 

 Railroad were kyanized, and have lasted twenty-three years. 

 The wood treated with corrosive sublimate never shrinks and 

 [Assembly, No. 144] J 



